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AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY IN THE 
PSYCHOLOGY OF READING 



A DISSERTATION 

SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF ARTS 

AND LITERATURE IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE 

OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY 

(department of education) 



BY 

WILLIAM ANTON SCHMIDT 



A Private Edition 

Distributed by 

The University of Chicago Libraries 



A Trade Edition Is Published By 

THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS 

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 

1917 



Ube TantversttB of Gbicaflo 



AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY IN THE 
PSYCHOLOGY OF READING 



A DISSERTATION 

SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF ARTS 

AND LITERATURE IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE 

OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY 

(department of education) 




BY 

WILLIAM ANTON SCHMIDT 



A Private Edition 

Distributed by 

The University of Chicago Libraries 



A Trade Edition Is Published By 

THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS 

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 

IQI7 




Copyright 191 7 By 
The University of Chicago 

All Rights Reserved 



Published April 1917 



Gift 

Tfc9 University 

.. 2a UN 



Composed and Printed By 

The University of Chicago Press 

Chicago. Illinois, U.S.A. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 

CHAPTER pAGE 

I. Introduction z 

II. Historical Sketch . 

A. Experimental Investigations of Eye-Movements 4 

1. Evolution of Experimental Technique for the Study of Eye- 
Movements 4 

2. Results of Experimentation with Eye-Movements ... 9 

a) Path of the Eye's Fixation Point 9 

b) Internxation Movements IO 

c) The Fixation Pause IZ 

B. Tachistoscopic Experimentation— Studies Dealing Chiefly with 

the Perceptual Process I ? 

C. Studies Chiefly Concerned with Individual Differences in Speed 

and Comprehension X g 

III. Apparatus, Method, and Scope 24 

A. Apparatus 24 

B. Method 27 

C. Scope ... 31 

IV. Statement and Discussion of Results 37 

A. Tables, Figures, and Charts 37 

B. Fixation Pauses 4 5 

1. Nature of Fixation Pauses 47 

2. Number of Pauses ca 

3. Duration of Pauses 57 

4. Perception (or Reading) Time 61 

5. Location of Pauses 62 

C. Comparison of Groups 66 

1. Number of Pauses 66 

2. Duration of Pauses 68 

3. Perception (or Reading) Time 68 

4. Refixations 7, 

5. Average Deviations 73 

6. Comprehension 7, 

D. Comparison of Silent and Oral Reading 75 

1. Number of Pauses 7S 

2. Duration of Pauses 76 

3. Perception (or Reading) Time 76 

4. Refixations 78 

E. Summary and Conclusions 78 

iii 



iv TABLE OF CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

V. The Motor Behavior of the Eye in Reading 85 

A. Movement in the Horizontal Plane 85 

1. Description of Records and Plates 85 

2. Head- and Eye-Movement in the Horizontal Plane ... 87 

3. Comparison of Records for Silent Reading at Maximal Rate 
with Records for Silent Reading at Normal Rate . • • 93 

4. Comparison of the Records of Children with Those of Adults 93 

5. The Return Sweep and Interfixation Movements .... 95 

6. Binocular Behavior and Adjustment 9° 

B. Movement in the Vertical Plane 102 

1. Description of Records and Plates 102 

2. Comparison of Records for the Two Planes 106 

3. Head- and Eye-Movement in the Vertical Plane . . . . 107 

C. Summary and Conclusions Regarding the Motor Behavior of the 
Eye 113 

VI. General Summary and Conclusion 118 

Index 124 



CHAPTER I 
INTRODUCTION 1 

A recent investigation has shown that more than one-fourth of 
the time in the elementary schools of our cities is devoted to the 
teaching of reading (i) 2 . This proportion acquires material 
significance when viewed in the light of the fact that the teaching 
of reading has until recently been proverbially inefficient, especially 
in the case of the intermediate and grammar grades. The technique 
of teaching the mechanics of reading has of course undergone an 
almost complete revolution since 1870. The alphabet method in 
use for ages has been gradually discarded, while the phonic, 
phonetic, word, and sentence methods were being perfected and 
blended into a variety of superior combination methods (2). But 
even here there is still entirely too much clash of opinion and far 
too little scientific certainty. And to say the least, the most 
efficient method of teaching the mechanics of reading remains yet 
to be determined through scientific experimentation. 

If we turn to the later stages in the process of teaching reading 
— the stages following upon the period when the mechanics of 
reading has been mastered — we find that improvement in practice 

1 Most of the data bearing upon this investigation were secured in the laboratory 
of the School of Education of the University of Chicago during the school year 1913-14. 
The writer gratefully acknowledges his indebtedness to Dr. F. N. Freeman for his 
introduction to the technique and methods of experimentation, for improvements in 
connection with the apparatus — particularly in so far as these bear upon the modi- 
fications which made possible measurement of eye-movement in the vertical plane — 
for much time in serving as a subject in connection with most preliminary and supple- 
mentary experimentation, and for much valuable advice and indispensable criticism 
in connection with the investigation and the manuscript. The writer is further 
greatly indebted to Dr. Charles H. Judd for suggesting the problem and for most 
valuable council and criticism. Grateful acknowledgments are also due to Principal 
F. W. Johnson, of the University High School, and to Principal H. O. Gillet, of the 
University Elementary School, for kindly co-operation in securing children, as well 
as to the many individuals who served as subjects in the course of the investigation. 

2 Figures in parentheses refer to corresponding numbers in the bibliography given 
at the end of each chapter. 



2 STUDY IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF READING 

has been much slower. In fact, training in this most important 
form of human behavior has until recently been guided almost 
exclusively by traditional and empirical principles. In conse- 
quence the results have been very unsatisfactory. Emphases 
have not infrequently been entirely misplaced, as in the case of 
silent and oral reading, for instance. In spite of the fact that silent 
reading is of far greater importance for adult life than oral reading, 
our schools have stressed the latter to the almost complete exclusion 
of the former. Similarly, adaptation to individual differences has 
been rather persistently ignored. 

More recently, however, a marked change has been taking 
place. As a result, the reading process is rapidly being analyzed, 
and careful studies are being made of its several components, such 
as rate and comprehension. Individual differences are being 
determined, reading materials standardized, norms and standards 
of accomplishment established, the differences between silent and 
oral reading more definitely set forth, and new practices developed. 
This new and promising movement is due in part to the influence 
of the rapidly growing technical psychology of reading, the incep- 
tion and development of which are traced in the next chapter, and 
in part it is part and parcel of the present scientific movement in 
education — the movement which is ruthlessly challenging all of 
our practices, in so far as these rest upon traditional and empirical 
rather than scientific principles. 

Before the most advantageous and economical reconstruction 
of practice can be effected additional information is needed. To 
this end the reading process must be further analyzed and the 
boundaries of the psychology of reading must be materially 
extended. It is not sufficient, for instance, to know that reading 
rate is a variable. We must determine the factors which condition 
such variation; we must find out to what extent speed efficiency 
is dependent upon the number and to what extent upon the dura- 
tion of fixation pauses; how it is related to age and accomplishment, 
and how to efficiency in comprehension ; to what extent it is subject 
to improvement under judicious practice, and within what limits it 
may be developed in connection with continuous reading rather 
than scanning. It is essential, further, that the differences between 



INTRODUCTION 3 

silent and oral reading be carefully pointed out, and that the possi- 
bilities and limitations of each be more completely set forth. 

Accordingly, this investigation was undertaken for the purpose 
of securing such information. An effort has been made to discover 
the dominant reading characteristics of a large number of indi- 
viduals varying widely in age and accomplishment. Similarly, the 
differences between silent and oral reading — especially as these are 
revealed by variations in the number, duration, and location of 
fixation pauses and by differences in reading rate — have been 
singled out and described. Finally, a critical analysis of binocular 
behavior and adjustment affords information which is of particular 
interest to the technical psychology of reading. 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES 

1. Holmes, H. W. "Time Distribution by Subjects and Grades in Represen- 
tative Cities," Fourteenth Yearbook of the National Society for the Study 
of Education, Part I, pp. 21-27. 

2. Huey, E. B. The Psychology and Pedagogy of Reading, chaps, xiii, xiv. 



CHAPTER II 

HISTORICAL SKETCH 

The scientific study of the reading process is of comparatively 
recent origin. The long neglect of this important field is, as Huey 
remarks, "a curious instance of the failure of scientists to make 
first-hand observation except along certain lines that have become 
habitual." Once initiated, however, the movement has made con- 
siderable progress — so much so, in fact, that we have today an 
elaborate experimental technique and a wealth of scientific data 
at our command. The problem has been approached from many 
different angles, and has as a result given rise to a variety of experi- 
mental activities, each making its specific contribution toward 
the building up of a comprehensive psychology of reading. We 
are here most immediately concerned with three types of experi- 
mental investigation, namely: (A) those approaching the problem 
primarily through a study of eye-movements; (B) those dealing 
chiefly with the perceptual process; (C) those attacking the 
problem from the standpoint of individual differences in speed, 
comprehension, and reproduction. 

A. EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATIONS OF EYE-MOVEMENTS 

I. EVOLUTION OF EXPERIMENTAL TECHNIQUE FOR THE STUDY OF 
EYE-MOVEMENTS 

The present complicated technique for the study of eye- 
movements has a rather interesting history. Although earlier 
attempts to attack the problem by means of mechanical devices 
are not wanting, yet up to 1898, when Huey succeeded in utilizing 
mechanical registration, the after-image method and the mirror 
method of direct observation gave the most satisfactory results. 
Volkmann (1) and Lamansky (2) used the after-image method 
during the third quarter of the last century. The speed of the 
eye's movement "was measured by counting the number of after- 
images produced during a given movement of a pencil of light 

4 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 5 

flashed into the eye at regular intervals through the perforations 
in a rotating disk." Professor Javal, of the University of Paris, 
was among the first to use the mirror method of direct observation. 
As early as 1879 he called attention to the fact that the passage 
of the eye across the page from left to right is discontinuous, con- 
sisting of a series of movements and pauses (3). Somewhat later 
(1891) M. Landolt, also of the University of Paris, made extensive 
observations by means of the mirror method of direct observation 
(4) . Still later (1897-98) Erdmann and Dodge carried on elaborate 
investigations at the University of Halle (5) . Among the methods 
used was the mirror method of direct observation. A telescope 
was also used to advantage. 

Meanwhile various mechanical devices were attempted. 
Lamare, working with Javal, succeeded in attaching a microphone 
to the upper eyelid which enabled him to count the sounds made 
by the movements of the eyes and thus to determine in a general 
way the number of pauses which the eye made in reading a given 
line (6). Somewhat later (1891) Dr. Ahrens, in studying eye- 
movements in connection with writing at the University of Rostock, 
attached an ivory cup to the cornea of the eye. By means of a 
pointer fastened to the cup he hoped to record on a smoked surface 
tracings of the movements of the eyes. The attempt, although 
not successful, was nevertheless suggestive (7). During the year 
1897-98 Professor Delabarre, of the Harvard laboratory, resorted, 
at the suggestion of Dr. Lough, to the use of a plaster-of-Paris cup. 
This was attached to the cornea of the eye in somewhat similar 
fashion to that used with Dr. Ahrens' ivory cup. A light thread 
leading to a recording lever was fastened to the cup. To this 
lever was attached a thin elastic fiber in such a way that the 
horizontal movements of the eyes were recorded on the smoked 
surface of a kymograph cylinder. However, no permanent records 
of eye-movements were made (8). In the course of the same year 
Huey, at Clark University, devised, partly at the suggestion of 
Delabarre, a similar although more perfect apparatus (9). This 
marked a great step in advance. But, as Dodge points out, 
the apparatus was not entirely satisfactory. The eye necessarily 
worked under more or less unnatural conditions because of the 



6 STUDY IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF READING 

attachment. Moreover, the exactions of the technique were too 
severe, and the penalties of carelessness too great, to bring the 
apparatus into general use. 

Meanwhile Dodge was at work at Wesleyan University devis- 
ing a new apparatus. A satisfactory apparatus for recording 
eye-movements, he held, must necessarily meet the following 
requirements : 

It must be capable of operating under normal conditions of binocular 
vision. It must be capable of registering both eyes simultaneously. The 
unit of measurement must be i o- or less. The registering medium may have 
neither momentum nor inertia, while the eye must perform no extra work 
during registration and be subjected to no unusual conditions. The apparatus 
should be such as can be used to record the movements of a large number of 
eyes without serious inconvenience either during or after the experiments (10). 

It appeared to him that photography must ultimately offer the 
most satisfactory mode of approach. He felt convinced, too, that 
a pencil of light which had "neither momentum nor inertia, which 
was absolutely safe and universally available," must constitute 
the final registering medium. But the development of a technique 
which would make this possible was no small task. The immediate 
outcome was an apparatus which enabled Dodge to photograph 
directly the horizontal movements of the eyes. This method was, 
however, open to serious objections. "The illumination tended 
to interfere with the normal eye-movement, the lines of demarka- 
tion between pigmented and unpigmented portions of the eye 
were not sharply defined, and the records could not be satisfac- 
torily enlarged" (n). 

After considerable additional experimentation Dodge finally 
"hit upon the plan of utilizing the eccentric surface of the cornea 
as a reflector. Instead of photographing the eye directly," he 
now "photographed the movement of a bright vertical line as it 
was reflected from the surface of the cornea." The source of the 
corneal illumination was an arc lamp. The light was first passed 
through several thicknesses of pot-blue glass, which rendered it 
highly actinic and of low physiological intensity. Head-movement 
was eliminated as much as possible by fastening the head securely 
in a headrest, the latter consisting of an upper-jaw rest, a wooden 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 7 

nose-bridge, and a mastoid-rest. The pencil of light reflected 
from the surface of the cornea was focused upon a photographic 
plate by means of a lens and camera. The plate, which was 
movable in the vertical plane, was secured within a carefully 
devised box so that its fall was absolutely constant and all lateral 
motion was excluded. The time of the eye's movement was 
recorded upon the falling plate by means of a spring pendulum 
which vibrated directly behind and at the edge of a horizontal slit 
in the camera, alternately admitting and excluding the light, and 
leaving a definite time record on the photographic plate (12). 

Naturally the question of the reliability of the records of 
movements secured on the basis of corneal reflection presented 
itself. This question Dodge discusses at length, showing that 
limitations appear only in cases where reflection involves the use 
of the extreme and peripheral portions of the cornea. Records of 
reflection from the middle third of the cornea, to which clear vision 
is limited, are shown to correspond accurately to actual eye- 
movements (13). 

Dearborn, who worked with this apparatus at Columbia 
University during the year 1904-5, introduced numerous minor 
modifications, especially by way of perfecting various parts of the 
technique. He was the first to use the apparatus extensively in 
experimenting with reading (14) . Later on he set up the apparatus 
at the University of Wisconsin, and still later in the laboratory of 
the School of Education of the University of Chicago. While 
connected with the above-named institutions, Dearborn introduced 
further modifications. By the use of double lenses he was able to 
secure records of binocular reading. He also experimented success- 
fully with the use of films, the latter being partly suggested by the 
kinetoscopic studies at Yale. 

After Dearborn left the University of Chicago, Dr. F. N. 
Freeman became interested in the apparatus. He accordingly 
introduced various minor modifications, perfecting especially the 
use of the film device. It was at his suggestion, too, that in the 
course of the present investigation the film device was modified 
so as to make possible the registration of movements in the vertical 
plane. 



8 STUDY IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF READING 

While the Dodge photographic method was being used and 
perfected, another and in some respects superior method for the 
study of eye-movements was devised at Yale by Dr. Charles H. 
Judd, namely, the kinetoscopic photographic method. The 
Dodge apparatus had certain limitations; eye-movement, for 
instance, could be measured in only one plane, the horizontal. 
Dr. Judd overcame this difficulty by using a kinetoscopic 
camera. This made possible a rapid succession of discrete 
photographs— eight per second — the records showing the move- 
ments of the eye in all planes. Usually a double camera was 
used so as to get complementary records. The camera was 
driven by a mechanical device which assured absolutely uniform 
motion. 

In order to get a fixed and identifiable spot on the eyeball — a 
spot which could be used as a point of reference in the successive 
photographs — a small particle of Chinese white was placed on the 
cornea. The photographs, when completed, were projected upon 
a screen by means of a lantern. By noting the successive positions 
of the white spot it was possible to measure and chart the varied 
movements of the eye. 

Head-movement was eliminated as much as possible by securing 
the head in a firm headrest. Iron spectacles with highly polished 
steel beads fastened to the lower rim were worn by the subject; 
this made possible a comparison of eye- and head-movement. In 
order to eliminate error which might result from compensatory 
eye-movement, the points of reference or fixation were attached to 
the head, so that they invariably moved with the head. The possi- 
bilities of error were thus reduced to a minimum (15). 

Since the Yale apparatus made possible the estimation and 
measurement of movement in the various planes, it was particularly 
well adapted for a minute study of fixations. McAllister's investi- 
gations accordingly dealt in a very thoroughgoing manner with 
this problem (16). The studies of illusions which were undertaken 
by Judd, Cameron, Steele, and Courten dealt indirectly with the 
same problem (17). Judd's final study dealing with convergence 
and divergence makes important contributions to various phases 
of the eye-movement problem (18). 



HISTORICAL SKETCH g 

2. RESULTS OF EXPERIMENTATION WITH EYE-MOVEMENTS 

As previously indicated, up to the time that Huey succeeded 
in utilizing mechanical registration of eye-movements, the after- 
image method and the mirror method of direct observation gave 
the most satisfactory results. These results were, however, quite 
meager, since the methods were severely limited in several respects. 
As Dodge says: 

The after-image method was limited to the span of memory, while any 
after-image sufficiently distinct to be serviceable would be a constant menace 
to clear vision, and the demands on the attention would more or less disturb 

the processes it was serving to investigate Similarly, the invaluable 

method of direct observation is limited by the memory span of the observer, 
and is irregularly interrupted by the pursuit movements of the observing 
eye (19). 

Volkmann and Lamansky were particularly concerned with the 
estimation of the speed of eye-movement. Their estimates, 
however, were too low (20). Javal's discovery that eye-movement 
in reading is discontinuous, consisting of a series of alternate 
movements and pauses, was of course thoroughly significant. In 
fact, the chief interest of subsequent experimenters has centered 
about the nature, function, and relation of these movements and 
pauses. 

a) Path of the eye's fixation point. — Erdmann and Dodge were 
the first to note that the path of the eye's fixation point was not 
coextensive with the line. The first and last fixations were found 
to be located within the line— the last more so than the first (21). 
Huey and Dearborn later confirmed this. The former found that 
the distance traversed by the eye's fixation point varied from 78 
to 82 per cent of the length of the fine (22). The latter observed 
that these indentations varied more or less with individuals and 
with the nature of end-words (23). 

Javal, upon observing on the basis of after-images the promi- 
nent part played by the upper part of letters, concluded that the 
fixation point moved across the fine evenly between the middle 
and the top of the small letters. Huey, with a more perfect 
technique, noticed that the path of the fixation point was more 
uneven than Javal had supposed, but concluded that the fixation 



io STUDY IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF READING 

point did not wander far above or below the line that was being 
read (24). Dearborn, detecting on his photographic records 
indications of considerable movement in the vertical plane, con- 
cluded that the path designated by Javal was a " physical impos- 
sibility" (25). However, both admit the limitations of their 
technique. Neither apparatus was capable of registering accurately 
eye-movements in the vertical plane. The results of the present 
investigation, the technique of which made such measurement 
possible, will be referred to later. 

b) Inter fixation movements (26). — Interfixation movements, i.e., 
the movements of the eye from fixation to fixation, have been 
studied chiefly from the standpoint of extent and velocity. Javal 
concluded on the basis of his observations that the extent of these 
movements was rather uniform. Recent findings, however, have 
disproved this. Huey and Dodge found that the extent of these 
forward movements often varied in the ratio of 1 : 4 (27). Dearborn 
found the same variation in extent, even though the formation 
of short-lived motor habits tended to render the number of pauses 
relatively uniform line after line (28). 

The interest of investigators has, however, been centered 
largely upon the problem of determining the velocity of these 
movements. The chief question at issue was whether the velocity 
was such as to condition clear vision. Volkmann and Lamansky, 
as noted above, were interested in determining the angle velocity 
of eye-movement, but underestimated it (29). Javal, knowing 
that the passage of the eye from left to right is discontinuous, 
attempted by means of after-images to determine the velocity of 
interfixation movements. Although hampered by the inadequacy 
of his technique, he concluded that the movement was too rapid 
to condition clear vision (30). Erdmann and Dodge inferred on 
the basis of certain calculations that from 12/13 to 23/24 of the 
time of the eye's passage from left to right was spent in fixations. 
This velocity was considered too high to admit of significant 
stimulation (31). Further experimentation on the part of Dodge 
and Baxt showed that fusion of stimuli was inevitable during 
interfixation movements (3 2) . Actual measurement of the velocity 
of these movements by Huey, Dodge and Cline, and Dearborn 



HISTORICAL SKETCH n 

gave results which were in general agreement with previous findings 
(33). There remained, however, one apparent difficulty. In spite 
of the fact that the conditions were such as to imply fusion, no 
gray bands were in evidence. This raised the question whether 
the conditions of fusion might not be different when the eyes, 
rather than the stimuli, were in motion. If so, perception and 
orientation might be quite possible during interfixation movements. 
Experimental evidence in support of this was not entirely lacking 
(34). However, Dodge presently secured experimental evidence 
which demonstrated clearly that fusion takes place during these 
movements (35). Holt likewise concluded on the strength of two 
experimental proofs that "voluntary movements of the eyes 
condition a momentary visual central anaesthesia" (36). About 
the same time Dearborn repeated the calculations of Erdmann 
and Dodge. He found them substantially correct, and he con- 
cluded, therefore, that "the duration of stimulation is well below 
the threshold necessary for producing a distinct visual impres- 
sion" (37). 

c) The fixation pause.— Significant stimulation is, as we have 
seen, limited to the fixation pause. This naturally makes the 
pause the center of experimental interest. It has been studied 
thus far chiefly from the standpoint of number per fine, duration, 
location, and nature. Javal inferred that there was uniformly one 
pause to every ten letters (about 5 pauses to a 90 mm. line). 
Landolt held that on an average 1.55 words were read per pause 
(about 6.5 pauses to a 90 mm. line). Dodge averaged 5 pauses 
for an 83 mm. line, and Erdmann 8 for a line of 122 mm. Two of 
Huey's subjects averaged 4.5 and 4.8 pauses, respectively, for 
lines 8^ mm. in length. With 52 mm. newspaper lines two readers 
averaged, respectively, 3.4 and 3.8 pauses per line. Dearborn's 
readers averaged from 3 to 7 . 1 pauses for somewhat longer news- 
paper lines, an average of from 1.9 to 1.0 words per pause. For 
lines not quite double this length from 7 . 5 to 9. 4 pauses were made, 
averaging from 1.5 to 1 . 09 words per fixation. Dearborn is the 
first to stress strongly the fact that great individual variation exists. 

The duration of pauses is quite as important a factor as their 
number. However, since the measurement of the former is a 



12 STUDY IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF READING 

more delicate task than the estimation of the latter, it is naturally 
more dependent upon an improved technique. As a result, the 
data regarding the duration of pauses are very recent. The 
average for several of Huey's readers appeared to be in the neigh- 
borhood of 185 a per pause. However, his technique was not very 
well adapted for the measurement of duration. Dearborn was 
the first to measure duration extensively. His apparatus was 
such as to insure much greater accuracy. He found in reading 
the same newspaper passage that five subjects ranged from 160. 8 a 
(average deviation 36.8) to 401.9 a (average deviation 163.7). 
Dearborn found, further, that these differences in duration time 
were very closely correlated with differences in the rapidity of 
reading. 

Dodge has also devoted considerable attention to the investi- 
gation of the duration of pauses, especially as related to reaction 
time and to the total reading process (38). Although his reaction- 
time averages fall considerably below the averages for pauses, he 
feels, nevertheless, that some explanation is needed in the case of 
the large number of pauses the duration of which either approxi- 
mates reaction time closely or falls below it. It would be absurd, 
he states, to attempt to crowd into such brief intervals "the 
complex apperceptive processes which condition the apprehension 
of the words as such, their contribution to the sum-total meaning 
consciousness, and the more or less definite mental and physical 
reactions to that meaning." "We are forced," he continues, "to 
postulate a concurrent complication of the psychical processes of 
perception, extending through several fixations." He suspected, 
and later demonstrated experimentally, that the long initial 
pause, which Dearborn had found to be rather common, made 
possible a general initial survey of the line, and thus modified the 
duration of succeeding pauses. This, together with constant data 
from peripheral vision, he concludes, "tends to make the normal 
reading pause represent a comparatively late moment in the total 
process of perception." 

The fixation pause has also been studied intensively from the 
standpoint of its location. The chief problem has been to deter- 
mine with accuracy the location of pauses with respect to syllables, 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 13 

words, phrases, etc., and to arrive, if possible, at a law governing 
such location. Erdmann and Dodge's earlier experimentation led 
them to believe that fixations were centered upon words; in fact, 
usually upon the middle of words. Later and more accurate 
measurements by both Dodge and Huey seemed to indicate that 
the fixation point may be in any part of the word, or even between 
words. Dearborn, who made the most elaborate study of the loca- 
tion of fixation pauses, comes to similar conclusions. " The exact 
point that is fixated," he states, "may be in any part of the 
words, nor does it occur more frequently in the first part of the 
sentence than in the last, and apparently pays little attention to 
many of the laws of apperception or the rules of the rhetorician." 
"The exact object of fixation," he continues, "is significant only as 
representing the point about which are grouped the 'block' of 
letters that are simultaneously perceived as one word or phrase 
complex. It more often falls in the first third than at the center 
of a given perception area." There were, however, in evidence 
certain factors which tended to determine the extent of the suc- 
cessive areas, and consequently, in a general way at least, the 
location of pauses. The perception area was found to be "large in 
the case of nouns and adjectives and verbs, and usually small in 
the case of the connective parts of speech, the conjunctions and 
prepositional phrases, the relative pronouns, the auxiliary verbs" 
(39). Certain other factors which will be mentioned later on 
were found to be influential at times in determining the more 
immediate location of the pauses. 

The nature of the fixation pause has further been studied from 
the standpoint of its steadiness. A careful photographic examina- 
tion of fixation has shown that the eye is not necessarily at rest 
during reading pauses. Dearborn found considerable individual 
variation in this respect. The fixations of some were "precise 
and relatively steady," while in the case of others fixations and 
movements were at times indistinguishable. On the whole, how- 
ever, his records would seem to indicate a rather large amount of 
shifting during fixation. Dodge likewise found unsteadiness com- 
mon; so much so, in fact, that he substituted the term "fixation- 
field" for "fixation-point." However, most of his experimentation 



14 STUDY IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF READING 

was not concerned with continuous reading. McAllister's study 
at Yale, "the purpose of which was to determine how the eye 
behaves when an observer is consciously fixating a point, and how 
the eye moves from one point of fixation to another," was of course 
also immediately concerned with this problem. He found that 
the "eye does not stand still during any period of fixation; that 
the area of fixation during the successive periods for any point 
differs in extent and in the relation of the different positions to 
each other; also that the manner of approach to any point of 
fixation is not exactly the same for any two periods of fixation" 
(40). Accordingly, his conclusion is that "the image of a point 
fixated does not fall upon any particular point of the retina, but 
may fall upon any point of a considerable area of the retina, round 
about the fovea centralis"; in other words, "the same elements of 
the retina are not stimulated during any successive periods of 
fixation of a point except merely by chance (41). It must be 
remembered, however, that this experimentation, like that of 
Dodge, was not concerned with normal reading. In fact, it was 
limited to the alternate fixation of two points. As will be pointed 
out later, there are indications that the amount of unsteadiness 
which characterizes fixations during normal reading has been 
overestimated. The experimenters in question are agreed, it 
should be noted further, that the shifting during fixations is too 
slow to interfere with perception. They are also generally agreed 
that the shifting does not imply fluctuation of the attention during 
perception — in other words, that the shifting does not confirm in 
any way the theories of Wundt and Zeitler. The unsteadiness is 
accounted for chiefly on the basis of muscular tension. 

Dr. Judd's study (42) of simple movements of convergence and 
divergence between two fixed points has brought to light other 
very important aspects of eye behavior. Convergence was fre- 
quently accompanied by a downward movement of the eyes. 
Similarly, upward movements were more or less characteristic 
of divergence. There was also in evidence a certain amount of 
rotation of the eyeball, in a clockwise direction, in the case of 
convergence especially. Generally speaking, divergence was found 
to be a much simpler form of adjustment than convergence. It 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 15 

was very evident that the two eyes in executing these movements 
did not as a rule follow paths of the same form, nor did they proceed 
with the same degree of rapidity. Fixation, however, was not com- 
plete until the slower eye had caught up with the other. Dr. Judd 
attributes these irregularities to "external muscular causes" 
rather than to " internal nervous adjustments." It was further 
found that the time of convergent and divergent adjustments is 
relatively long. The movements themselves appeared complex 
and difficult, frequent pauses being made by the one eye or the 
other in passing from one fixation to another. This latter phenom- 
enon, Dr. Judd holds, cannot be explained by "reference to the 
external muscular structure of the eyes." It would seem to 
signify rather "that the complete execution of a movement of con- 
vergence or divergence is in the nature of a slow and careful adjust- 
ment to a stimulus which is in some form or other recognized as 
not completely met by the main movements." There was in 
evidence, further, a tendency for the two eyes, before beginning the 
careful adjustment of convergence, to execute a lateral movement 
in which both sympathized by moving in the same direction rather 
than in opposite directions. This lateral movement appeared to 
be much easier and simpler than those of convergence and diver- 
gence. This tendency furnishes undoubtedly strong evidence for 
the "fundamental and natural character of the sympathetic 
movement of the two eyes." Similar indications in evidence in the 
results of the present investigation will be referred to later. 

B. TACHISTOSCOPIC EXPERIMENTATION— STUDIES DEALING CHIEFLY 
WITH THE PERCEPTUAL PROCESS 

Valentius was among the first to be interested in perceptual 
studies in reading. As early as 1844 he found that it was possible 
to perceive from three to four letters simultaneously in time 
intervals varying from 100 to 270 a. He believed, however, that 
every letter was separately perceived even in the case of the shortest 
time intervals (43). Exner was interested in the same problem as 
early as 1868 (44). Baxt followed with an article in 187 1 (45). 
Helmholtz' invention of the tachistoscope greatly facilitated 
experimentation along this line, since it made possible careful 



1 6 STUDY IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF READING 

regulation of exposure time. The results of his own studies were 
published in 187 1 (46). The results of CattelPs extensive experi- 
mentation began to appear in 1886. He found that consciousness 
can on an average grasp "four numbers, three to four letters, two 
words, or a sentence composed of four words." His conclusions 
were of course the opposite of those of Valentius. His results 
indicated that we tend to perceive by word-, phrase-, and sentence- 
wholes, rather than by successive letters (47). 

Goldscheider and Mueller's investigation at Berlin followed 
presently. The exposure time in this case was limited to one 
one-hundredth of a second. The materials exposed varied all the 
way from a group of unrelated strokes to whole sentences. The 
experimenters found that certain letters and letter groups figured 
much more prominently in the perception of a word than others. 
The former letters and letter groups were designated as 
"determining" and the latter as "indifferent." Consonants and 
vowels were included in each class. The sight of the "determining " 
letters and letter complexes, the experimenters concluded, called 
up the auditory image of the word or group of words, the "indif- 
ferent" elements being thus supplied incidentally. The final and 
significant conclusion of Goldscheider and Mueller was that the 
perceptual process in reading does not go on either purely by letters 
or purely by word-wholes, but rather that it varies with conditions, 
being now by word-wholes and now by letters, according as the 
material read was more or less familiar (48). 

Erdmann and Dodge's experimentation at the University of 
Halle at a somewhat later date (1896-98) was concerned with the 
same problem. The method, too, was similar, though the exposure 
time was longer, namely, one-tenth of a second. The tachisto- 
scopic study was, moreover, supplemented by several other types 
of investigation. The results led the experimenters to the con- 
clusion that it is the total word-form rather than characteristic 
letters or letter groups that are fundamental in the perceptual 
process in reading (49). 

Zeitler, at the University of Leipzig, was the next to engage in 
an elaborate tachistoscopic study. He made more than 6,000 
exposures. The exposure time was extremely short, though it 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 17 

varied slightly with individuals. He agrees with Goldscheider 
and Mueller in concluding that the perception of words, phrases, 
etc., is mediated by characteristic letters, and letter and syllable 
complexes, rather than by total form. He differs with the latter, 
however, in holding that visual, rather than auditory, imagery aids 
in completing the perceptual process. Generally speaking, per- 
ception in reading involves for Zeitler a very quick succession of 
conscious processes, the attention moving progressively forward 
rather than backward and forward (50). 

Becker, who a little later engaged in a similar type of experi- 
mentation, was chiefly interested in throwing further light upon 
the problem of the fluctuation of attention during the perceptual 
process in reading. His findings led him to agree with the con- 
clusions of Erdmann and Dodge, namely, that perception pro- 
ceeds by word- wholes and phrases, etc., and that fluctuation is 
absent (51). 

Messmer carried on a similar line of investigation at the Uni- 
versity of Zurich during the year 1903. He worked, however, 
with a larger number of subjects than the previous investigators, 
namely, four adults and six children, the latter ranging in age 
from six to eleven years. His materials consisted chiefly of words, 
the exposure time being very short. Generally speaking, his 
results are in close agreement with those of Goldscheider and 
Mueller, and Zeitler, i.e., he elaborates the theory of successive 
perception as mediated by a fluctuation of the attention, and also 
that of dominating letters and letter complexes. He classifies 
his readers, however, into two general types, the objective and 
the subjective. In the case of the former the attention and the 
fixation point are supposed to coincide closely, the attention fluc- 
tuating but little, if at all, its scope being, of course, very narrow. 
In consequence this type is supposed to perceive successively by 
combining. The latter type, on the other hand, is supposed to 
represent a relatively elastic attention, so much so, in fact, that 
the scope is wide enough to render perception by wholes dominant 
in the perceptual process in reading. Children, Messmer holds, 
belong to the latter type almost without exception. They repre- 
sent a wide fluctuation of attention, and so tend to perceive 



18 STUDY IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF READING 

prevailingly by wholes. The analysis of determining letters and 
letter groups is finally greatly elaborated as compared with previous 
experimenters. Each letter is regarded as having four character- 
istics: quantitatively there are the factors of height and breadth, 
and qualitatively those of geometrical form and color. When 
letters are combined into words, these different characteristics are 
united into one word-form, the elements in some cases fusing more 
readily than in others. Breadth in letters is of less significance 
than height; the latter supplies the characteristic outline, while 
the former tends to disappear in the total form. Accordingly, 
Messmer concludes that the tendency toward perception by wholes 
increases in proportion as the word-forms are characterisic and 
unitary. The objective type, however, is but little influenced by 
this consideration (52). 

Dearborn's investigations at Columbia University were also 
incidentally concerned with this problem. His conclusions, how- 
ever, agree with those of Cattell and of Erdmann and Dodge rather 
than with those of the other experimenters. His data appear to 
give "no confirmation to a theory of successive perception of the 
letters and elements of the word." They point rather to a pre- 
vailing tendency toward perception by word- wholes and larger 
complexes. In this process certain dominating letters and other 
peculiarities may serve as clues. Beyond this the chief factor is a 
difference in the span of attention among different individuals. 
This accounts for the fact that some individuals appear to perceive 
in larger wholes and complexes than others (53). 

Freeman, who more recently engaged in a closely related study 
at the University of Leipzig, likewise differs with the conclusions of 
such investigators as Zeitler and Messmer. The primary purpose 
of Freeman's study was to determine the nature of the span of 
attention in the case of children. The investigation affords, how- 
ever, also valuable information regarding the same problem in the 
case of adults. He found no evidence among either class of subjects 
to warrant the classifications of Zeitler and Messmer. In fact, 
the results pointed toward an unusual individual variation, as 
well as a strong variation under varying conditions. These results 
are especially significant, since the study involved a much larger 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 19 

number of subjects than any of the foregoing investigations. 
There are strong reasons for believing that the conflicting results 
of the various investigators are due to the persistent tendency to 
generalize on the strength of too small a number of subjects (54). 

C. STUDIES CHIEFLY CONCERNED WITH INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 
IN SPEED AND COMPREHENSION 

One of the earliest significant studies in this field was under- 
taken by Miss Abell at Wellesley College. Forty-one girls were 
asked to read a certain selection at home, and to time this reading. 
At the next class period they were asked to reproduce the story as 
nearly verbatim as possible. The results showed great individual 
variation both in speed and in comprehension. The swiftest read 
more than six times as fast as the slowest. The correlation between 
speed and comprehension did not appear to be marked, although 
two of the fastest readers also ranked highest in comprehension. 
Slow readers, however, appeared to be dominantly of the auditory- 
motor type (55). 

A much more elaborate investigation was undertaken some 
years later by Dr. Quantz at the University of Wisconsin. Fifty 
Juniors and Seniors were examined. The chief problem was the 
rate of reading and its conditioning factors. Accordingly, visual 
perception was first studied with color, forms, and words. An 
effort was then made to determine the correlations between visual- 
and motor-mindedness on the one hand and rate of reading on 
the other. Quantz found that "forms, colors, isolated words, and 
words in construction were in ascending order in the rapidity 
with which they were perceived," the differentiation being most 
marked in the case of the rapid readers. The greatest variation 
in the rapidity of perception between the rapid and the slow was 
in evidence in the case of sentence reading, showing that the rapid 
reader excels especially in the grasp of connected materials. There 
was of course also in evidence a high degree of correlation between 
quickness in perception and rapidity in reading. It was found, 
further, that the visual type was superior in rapidity to the audi- 
tory, while motor-mindedness, as evidenced, for instance, by 
lip-movement, was a serious hindrance. Finally, the rapid readers 



20 STUDY IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF READING 

were distinctly superior to the slow in efficiency of comprehension 
and retention (56). 

At a somewhat later date Huey experimented with a number of 
graduate students at Clark University. He was especially inter- 
ested in determining maximal and minimal rates in silent and oral 
reading. He found that in silent reading at the ordinary rate 
the slow readers averaged 2 . 5 and the fast 9 . 8 words per second ; 
at the maximal rate the results were 3.5 and 13.5 words, 
respectively. In oral reading at the ordinary rate the slow aver- 
aged 2 . 2 and the fast 4 . 7 words per second ; at the maximal speed 
the averages were respectively 2.9 and 6.4 words per second (57). 

Dearborn selected the fastest and the slowest readers from a 
group of thirty people. He found that the former read silently 
three times as fast as the latter (58). 

More recently a number of rather extensive investigations have 
been made with the rate and comprehension of the reading of 
children. Waldo, who examined a large number of children at 
Sycamore, Illinois, found that there was but little increase in rate 
beyond the fifth grade, especially in careful reading. Efficiency in 
comprehension, however, increased progressively from the lowest 
to the highest grades. The correlation between speed and com- 
prehension was not marked; it was evident, however, that increase 
in speed does not decrease efficiency in comprehension (59). Ober- 
holtzer recently tested approximately 1,800 children at Tulsa, 
Oklahoma. His results show a rather progressive increase in 
speed from grade to grade, the averages being respectively: third 
grade, 2 . 3 words per second ; fourth grade, 2 . 6 words ; fifth grade, 
3.1 words; sixth grade, 3.9 words; seventh grade, 4.7 words, 
and eighth grade, 4.8 words. There appeared to be a rather close 
correlation between rate of reading and comprehension, the rapid 
readers being distinctly superior in their grasp of the content (60). 
Starch gave reading tests recently to several thousand children. 
On the basis of the results obtained he computed standard scores 
of speed efficiency for the various grades. In terms of the number 
of words read per second these scores are: first grade, 1.5 words; 
second grade, 1.8 words; third grade, 2.1 words; fourth grade, 
2 . 4 words; fifth grade, 2 . 8 words; sixth grade, 3 . 2 words; seventh 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 21 

grade, 3 . 6 words ; eighth grade, 4 . o words. His results stress in a 
striking manner individual differences in both speed and compre- 
hension (61). Courtis, who has likewise made extensive investi- 
gations in this field, distinguishes in his discussions of results 
between "normal" and "careful" reading. In the case of the 
former Courtis found constant improvement in speed efficiency 
from the lowest to the highest grades, including the high-school 
period; but in the case of the latter there was no perceptible 
increase beyond the sixth grade (62). The distinction between 
normal and careful reading is undoubtedly a most fundamental 
one. The somewhat contradictory results of some of the investi- 
gations which have been reviewed above are most likely, in part 
at least, due to the fact that most of the experimenters over- 
looked this distinction. Perhaps the most significant fact stressed 
by all these studies is that of the existence of an enormous range 
of individual variation in the efficiency of speed and comprehen- 
sion in reading. 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES 

1. Valentius, G. Lehrbuch der Physiologic. 

2. Lamansky, S. Pfliigcr's Archiv, 1869, pp. 418 ff. 

3. Javal, Emile. "Sur la Physiologie de la lecture," Annates (Toculistique, 
1878 and 1879. 

4. Landolt. "Nouvelles Recherches sur la physiologie des movements des 
yeux," Archives d'ophlalmologie, II (1891), 385-95. 

5. Erdmann, B., and Dodge, R. Psychologische Untersuchungen iiber das 
Lesen auf experimcnteller Grundlage. Halle, 1898. 

6. Lamare. "Des Movements des yeux pendant la lecture," Comptes rendus 
de la Societe franqaise d'ophlalmologie, 1893, pp. 354 ff. 

7. Ahrens. Die Bewegung der Augen beim Schreiben. Rostock, 189 1. 

8. Delabarre, E. B. "A Method of Recording Eye Movements," American 
Journal of Psychology, IX (July, 1898), 572-74. 

9. Huey, E. B. "Preliminary Experiments in the Physiology and Psychology 
of Reading," American Journal of Psychology, IX (July, 1898). 

. "Psychology and Physiology of Reading," American Journal of 

Psychology, XI and XII. 

10. Dodge, R., and Cline, T. S. "The Angle Velocity of Eye Movements," 
Psychological Review, VIII, 145 ff. 

11. Ibid., pp. 147 ff. 

12. Ibid., p. 152. 



22 STUDY IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF READING 

13. Dodge, R. "An Experimental Study of Visual Fixation," Psychological 
Review, Monograph Supplement, Vol. VIII, 81. 

14. Dearborn, W. F. "The Psychology of Reading," Columbia University 
Contributions to Philosophy and Psychology, XIV, No. 1. 

15. Judd, C. H., McAllister, C. N., and Steele, W. M. "Introduction to a 
Series of Studies of Eye Movements by Means of Kinetoscopic Photo- 
graphs," Yale Psychological Studies, N.S., I, No. 1, pp. 1-16; Psychological 
Review, Monograph Supplement, Vol. VII, No. 1 (March, 1905). 

Judd, C. H. "Photographic Records of Convergence and Divergence," 
Yale Psychological Studies, N.S., I, No. 2; Psychological Review, Mono- 
graph Supplement, Vol. VIII, No. 3 (June 1907), pp. 370 ff. 

16. McAllister, C. N. "The Fixation of Points in the Visual Field," Yale 
Psychological Studies, N.S., I, No. 1, pp. 17-53. 

17. Ibid., N.S., I, No. 1. 

18. Ibid., I, No. 2. 

19. Dodge, R. "Recent Studies in the Correlation of Eye Movement and 
Visual Perception," Psychological Bulletin, III (1906). 

20. See reference 5 above. 

21. Ibid. 

22. Huey, E. B. Psychology and Pedagogy of Reading, p. 30. 

23. See reference 14 above, p. 82. 

24. American Journal of Psychology, XI, 288. 

25. Dearborn, W. F. Psychology of Reading, p. $s- 

26. Dodge, R. "Five Types of Eye Movement in the Horizontal Median 
Plane of the Field of Regard," American Journal of Physiology, VIII, 307-29. 
(A most thoroughgoing discussion of different types of eye movement.) 

27. See reference 22 above, p. 31. 

28. Dearborn, W. F. Psychology of Reading, p. 30. 

29. See reference 5 above. 

30. See reference 3 above. 

31. See reference 5 above. 

32. See reference 22 above. 

33. Huey, E. B. American Journal of Psychology, XL 

Dodge and Cline. "The Angle Velocity of Eye Movement," Psychological 
Review, VIII, 145 ff. 

34. Cattell, J. M. Psychological Review, 1900. 

35. Dodge, R. "Visual Perception during Eye Movement," ibid., VII, 

454-65- 

36. Holt, E. B. Ibid., Monograph Supplement, Vol. IV. 

37. Dearborn, W. F. Psychology of Reading, p. 47. 

38. See reference 13 above. 

39. Dearborn, W. F. Psychology of Reading, pp. 83-87. 

40. McAllister, C. N. "The Fixation of Points in the Visual Field," Yale 
Studies, I, No. 1, pp. 17-53. 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 23 

41. Ibid., pp. 44 ff. 

42. Judd, C. H. "Photographic Records of Convergence and Divergence," 
Yale Psychological Studies, N.S., I, No. 2. 

43. See reference 1 above. 

44. Exner. " Versuche iiber die zu einer Gesichtswahrnehmung nothige Zeit," 
Sitzungsbericht der Academie der Wissenschaft in Wien, Bd. LVIII, Abth. 
II (1868). 

45. Baxt, N. "Ueber die Zeit welche notig ist damit ein Gesichtseindruck 
zum Bewusstsein kommt," Pfliiger's Archiv fur Physiologie, IV (187 1). 

46. Helmholtz. Ueber die Zeit welche notig ist damit ein Gesichtsausdruck zum 
Bewusstsein kommt, 1872 

47. Cattell, J. M. Mind, 1886. 

48. Goldscheider, A., and Mueller, R. F. "Zur Physiologie und Pathologie 
des Lesens," Zeilschrift fiir klinische Medizin, Bd. XXIII, p. 131. 

49. See reference 5 above. 

50. Zeitler, J. " Tachistoscopische Versuche iiber das Lesen," Wundt's 
Philosophische Studien, Bd. XVI, Heft 3, pp. 380-463. 

51. Becker. " Experimented und kritische Beitrage zur Psychol ogie des 
Lesens bei kurzen Expositionszeiten," Zeilschrift fiir Psychologie und 
Physiologie der Sinnesorgane, Bd. 36, Hefte 1 u. 2, pp. 19-73. 

52. Messmer, O. "Zur Psychologie des Lesens bei Kinder und Erwachsenen," 
Archiv fiir die gesamte Psychologie, 1903, Bd. II, Hefte 2 u. 3, pp. 190-298. 

53. Dearborn, W. F. Psychology of Reading, pp. 50 ff. 

54. Freeman, F. N. " Untersuchungen iiber den Aufmerksamkeitsumfang 
und die Zahlauffassung bei Kindern und Erwachsenen," Pddagogisch- 
psychologische Arbeiten, 1910, pp. 88-168. 

55. Abell, Adelaide M. "Rapid Reading," Educational Review, VIII, 283 ff. 

56. Quantz, J. O. "Problems in the Psychology of Reading," Psychological 
Review, Monograph Supplements, Vol. II, No. 1. 

57. See reference 22 above. 

58. Dearborn, W. F. Psychology of Reading, pp. 116 ff. 

59. Waldo, K. D. "Tests in Reading in Sycamore Schools," Elementary 
School Journal, XV (1915), 251 ff. 

60. Oberholtzer, E. E. "Testing the Efficiency in Reading in the Grades," 
Elementary School Journal, XV, 313 ff. 

61. Starch, D. "The Measurement of Efficiency in Reading," Journal of 
Educational Psychology, VI, (191 5), 1 ff. 

62. Courtis, S. A. "Standard Tests in English," Elementary School Journal, 
XIV (1914), 374 ff. 



CHAPTER III 

APPARATUS, METHOD, AND SCOPE 

A. APPARATUS 

The present investigation was carried on largely by means 
of a modification of the Dodge photographic apparatus which 
Dearborn used at Columbia University. The chief departure 
consists of the substitution of a film-holder device in place of the 
former falling plate box. This makes possible the registration 
of eye-movements in both the horizontal and the vertical planes. 
The apparatus (Diagram I) consists essentially of: the source of 
light; a time-marker; reflecting mirrors; a headrest; a camera; 
a film-holder device; and a motor. 

i. The source of light (A). — This is an ordinary arc lamp incased 
in an asbestos box. The rays are brought to a focus by means 
of a lens in the front end. The light is further stopped down by 
blue glass which excludes all but the actinic rays. 

2. The time-marker (B). — This is an ordinary electric time- 
marker, the vibration rate being governed by a tuning-fork (50 
vibrations per second). A light paper flag is fastened to the lever 
of the marker. The latter is placed in such a position that the 
flag when vibrating intercepts the light from the arc lamp at the 
focal point. 

3. Reflecting mirrors (C). — These are one inch square. The 
reflecting surfaces are silver-plated and highly polished. They 
are fastened in front, one slightly to the right and the other slightly 
to the left of the subject's point of regard. The holders are such 
that the mirrors can be readily adjusted until the light is thrown 
directly upon the cornea of the reader's eyes, from which it is in 
turn reflected into the lens of the camera. 

4. The headrest (D). — This furnishes three points of contact, 
namely: (a) a support for the forehead, consisting of a rounded 
and padded form adjustable in the vertical plane (£); (b) a set 
of supports for the temples, consisting of padded forms adjustable 

24 



APPARATUS, METHOD, AND SCOPE 



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26 STUDY IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF READING 

in both the vertical and the horizontal planes (F); (c) a set of 
supports for the cheek bones. The latter are essentially round 
cushions with slightly elastic surfaces, which render them readily 
adaptable to a variety of features. They are adjustable in both 
the vertical and the horizontal planes; in addition, they articulate 
on practically universal joints (G). 

5. The camera (H). — This is an ordinary box camera with a 
long extension bellows. The lenses are adjustable in three planes. 
This renders them very serviceable. 

6. The film-holder (7) .—This holds the films and contains the 
mechanism by means of which they are kept in continuous motion, 
the one in the vertical and the other in the horizontal plane. It 
is essentially a wooden box with a depth of three inches, the other 
dimensions being the same as those of the camera to which it is 
fastened. It contains four spool slits, one on each side near the 
wall (J). A steel framework within the box supports four tension 
rollers, one opposite each spool slit (K). In loading the box the 
full film-spools are inserted into the upper and the right-hand 
slits (L), respectively, while the empty winding-spools are placed 
into the slits (M), situated on the opposite sides. The duplex 
paper of the full films is then drawn across the tension rollers and 
threaded into the slits of the empty spools. The tension rollers 
supporting the vertical film are slightly lower than those supporting 
the horizontal. This allows the horizontal film to pass over the 
vertical without friction. The back of the box, which faces the 
bellows, has an opening through which the rays of light pass in 
reaching the films (iV). The rays of light reflected from the left 
eye are focused upon the vertical film (O) , and those reflected from 
the right eye upon the horizontal film (P). This makes possible 
records of eye-movement in both planes, though not of the same 
eye. However, in more than half of the cases a simpler technique 
was used, i.e., only the film running in the vertical plane was 
inserted into the box, the reflections from both corneas being focused 
upon this. This gave, of course, parallel records of the horizontal 
movements of the two eyes and afforded a basis for valuable 
comparison. The finder, consisting of a piece of ground glass, is 
located in the cover of the box directly opposite the opening in 



APPARATUS, METHOD, AND SCOPE 27 

the back of the box. This is as nearly as possible in the same plane 
as the films (Q). It is, of course, necessary to secure the proper 
focus of the light-rays before loading the box with the films. The 
shafts of the two winding-spools are connected by means of bevel 
gearing, so that both films are driven by the same source of power 
and at the same speed (R) . 

7. The motor (S). — The power which moves the films is fur- 
nished by an electric motor. This is firmly secured at the left 
of the camera and the film device. Rotary motion is transmitted 
by means of a drive-shaft built in sections, one telescoping into 
the other. This eliminates all lateral vibrations. The rate at 
which the films move can, of course, be regulated at will by means 
of the motor; it was, however, kept uniform throughout the main 
part of the experiment. The films used were regular Eastman 
Kodak films, 2\ by 42 inches. 

B. METHOD 

As previously indicated, the Dodge photographic method does 
not photograph the movements of the eye directly. A more 
satisfactory medium has been found, namely, a beam of light 
reflected from the cornea of the eye. That the movements of such 
corneal reflections are, under normal conditions, substantially 
true representations of the actual movements of the eyes has 
been demonstrated by Dr. Dodge (1). The theory underlying 
the method is "that the virtual images from an eccentrically 
mounted convex spherical mirror appear to move in the direction 
of the latter's rotations when its axis lies behind its center of 
curvature" (2). Since the normal and healthy cornea is, within 
a very small error, such a convex spherical surface, its reflection 
appears to move in the direction of its rotation. Dodge discusses 
in a very critical and thoroughgoing manner the limitations of 
the method (3). Suffice it to say that the error is inconsequential 
with respect to the part of the cornea mainly concerned with 
vision in reading. Toward the periphery the limitations are more 
pronounced. 

The reading took place in a dark room. In order to eliminate 
head-movements as much as possible, the reader, after being 



28 STUDY IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF READING 

comfortably seated, had his head firmly secured in the headrest. 
The reading material was attached to an adjustable framework 
between the reader and the camera. It was artificially illuminated 
by means of a screened red light. The actinic rays from the arc 
lamp were thrown upon the cornea by the silver mirrors, and thence 
into the lenses of the camera. After the rays from each cornea 
were brought to a fine focus in the finder, the films were exposed. 
The reading matter was then uncovered, the films set in motion 
by means of the motor, and the reader given a signal to begin. 

The speed of the motor could be varied, but was constant for 
any one set of readings, and, in fact, throughout most of the 
experiment. The length of the reading selections varied, but it 
rarely exceeded twenty-four lines. All subjects read two selections 
at a sitting, one orally and the other silently. For the former the 
subject was instructed to "read so as to be understood," and for 
the latter to "read rapidly for the thought." The adjustments 
for any one sitting required more or less time, hence the subject 
was enabled to accustom himself to the seemingly more or less 
unnatural circumstances before reading. The actinic light rarely 
caused discomfort to the subject. When such proved to be the 
case, the subject was at once dismissed. The consensus of opinion 
among the subjects was that the technique did not disturb them, 
and that the reading took place under apparently normal conditions. 
However, they were nevertheless laboratory conditions, and so 
may have deviated from the normal more or less; but they were 
the same for all readers, and so afforded at least a common basis 
for observation. 

The records are, of course, continuous photographs of the 
movements of the eyes. The film running in the vertical plane 
recorded the horizontal movements and the one running in the 
horizontal plane the vertical movements. Since the corneal 
reflection of the left eye was focused upon the vertical film and 
that from the right eye upon the horizontal film, the horizontal 
movements of one eye and vertical movements of the other were 
recorded. In the majority of cases, however, the corneal reflections 
from both eyes were focused upon the vertical film some distance 
apart. Such records represent, of course, only horizontal move- 



APPARATUS, METHOD, AND SCOPE 29 

merits, but they afford on that basis an excellent opportunity for 
a comparative study of binocular reading. 

Since the length of the bellows represents several times the 
focal length of the lens, the extent of the movements of the eyes is 
magnified on the records correspondingly. If the light from the 
arc lamp were not intercepted by the vibrations of the time-marker, 
the records would be continuous. As it is, they consist of series 
of dots each representing one-fiftieth of a second. Naturally 
the records of the movements in the two planes differ widely. If 
absolutely steady fixations were maintained while the films were 
in motion, there would appear on each film simply a uniform and 
straight line of dots, or when both eyes were focused on the vertical 
film two such lines running parallel. But since reading involves 
a series of movements and pauses and a return sweep, the records 
are correspondingly modified. The vertical film which records 
the horizontal movements of the eyes represents for each pause 
a vertical line of dots and blanks, and for each movement to the 
right a slightly diagonal line. The return sweep from right to 
left is represented by a longer and slightly more diagonal line 
running in the opposite direction. Irregularities of fixation falling 
in the horizontal plane are indicated by deviations in the vertical 
lines of dots and blanks standing for the pauses; similarly, 
irregularities falling in the vertical plane are roughly indicated 
by an alternate spreading and crowding of the dots in these 
lines. 

The records on the films running in the horizontal plane are 
somewhat more complicated. If the behavior of the eyes both in 
fixation and during movement were steady, a pause would be 
represented by a straight horizontal line of dots, a movement from 
left to right by a short gap or stretching out in the line of dots, and 
the return sweep by a line running nearly parallel to the records 
of the last few pauses of any one line, the initial pauses of the 
succeeding line running necessarily also nearly parallel to the 
latter. Since there is, however, more or less unsteadiness during 
fixation, the lines of dots and blanks standing for the pauses are 
wavy rather than straight; the deviations in this case indicate 
irregularities of fixation falling in the vertical plane, while the 



30 STUDY IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF READING 

slight alternate spreading and crowding of the dots are indicative 
of irregularities falling in the horizontal plane. 

Since head-movements are probably never entirely eliminated, 
it was important to determine to what extent these might account 
for the apparent unsteadiness of fixation. This was made possible 
by attaching to one end of a pair of spectacle rims, by means of a 
copper wire, a small but highly polished metal ball. This was 
adjusted just outside of the left eye in the same vertical plane as 
the cornea. The light reflected from the polished ball was thus 
photographed simultaneously with that from the cornea of the 
right eye. By means of a careful analysis of the records thus 
obtained it was possible to single out head-movements rather 
accurately and to compare them with genuine irregularities in 
fixation. 

The interpretation of the records naturally demanded a great 
deal of attention. The number of pauses per line was easily 
determined, but the accurate estimation of their duration was a 
much more difficult task. Since each pause was represented on 
the records by a vertical line of dots and blanks, each dot and 
blank standing for one-fiftieth of a second, the number of the latter 
had to be determined for each pause. This process was facilitated 
somewhat by the use of a magnifying glass. After the results 
were reduced to a, the averages and the average deviations of the 
number of pauses per line and per selection and the averages 
and average deviations of the duration of these pauses were 
carefully computed for each record. 

The location of pauses was determined by the method formerly 
used by Dearborn (4). Immediately before and after the reading 
of a given passage each subject was required to fixate alternately 
two points which were even with the ends of the lines. These 
fixations were represented at the beginning and at the end of the 
records by two vertical lines connected by a horizontal line, the 
latter standing for the forward sweep of the eye and consequently 
for the length of the lines read (90 mm). These initial and final 
vertical lines were then connected on each side by parallel lines 
drawn with a fine steel point. The space between the two lines 
represents the width of the printed page which was read in any 



APPARATUS, METHOD, AND SCOPE 31 

one case. This space on the films was then enlarged by means 
of a stereopticon lantern until it was identical with the width of 
the page. It was thus possible to plot on a screen schematically 
the location of the pauses. By superposition of these schemata 
upon the respective printed lines it was possible to determine 
the actual location of the pauses. 

Comprehension tests were given to each reader of the elemen- 
tary- and high-school groups immediately after the selections were 
read. The tests consisted of a series of carefully graded questions. 
These were answered in writing in the case of all except the second- 
and third-grade pupils. In the case of the latter the questions 
were given orally, and the answers were written by the examiner 
in the exact words of the subject. The answers were in each case 
scored with as much precision and uniformity as possible. This 
method of estimating comprehension, although not entirely free 
from objections, is nevertheless superior to any other method now 
in use. In fact, most methods appear to measure little beyond 
memory for details. Some of these methods seek to determine the 
index of comprehension on the basis of the "number of words 
written which correctly reproduce the thought"; others rely chiefly 
upon the number of detailed ideas reproduced (5). None of these 
serves the real purpose of reading. Efficient comprehension in 
reading implies anything but total redintegration or indiscriminate 
reproduction. On the contrary, it implies careful discrimination — 
the rejection of the trivial or irrelevant and the selection and 
emphasis of the significant. The question-and-answer method 
tends to test this capacity, to say the least. Some form of supple- 
mentary test would undoubtedly aid in increasing its efficiency. 
As it stands, the chief objections to it are: (a) that the questions 
are likely to be suggestive, and (b) that the scoring is likely to be 
subjective. Several more thoroughgoing methods which have 
recently been developed are unfortunately not as yet readily 
applicable to the reading of general selections. 

c. SCOPE 

The scope of this experiment differs materially from those pre- 
viously undertaken. Investigations thus far have been confined 



32 STUDY IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF READING 

to a relatively small number of subjects, while other conditions 
and factors, such as complexity of material, length of line, size 
of type, etc., have been varied widely. In view of the fact that 
most recent findings in educational psychology have stressed 
particularly the prevalence of wide individual variation with respect 
to practically all capacities and abilities, it appeared to the writer 
that the interests of the psychology of reading could at the present 
time be materially furthered by data from a larger and more 
varied group of subjects. Accordingly, the plans of the present 
experiment provided, on the one hand, for uniformity with regard 
to all previously varied conditions, and, on the other, for a larger 
number of subjects varying in age and accomplishment. 

The selection of reading materials presented considerable 
difficulty. No scientifically standardized selections were available 
at the time when the experiment was undertaken (autumn of 19 13). 
Two alternatives presented themselves in choosing the selections. 
One was to use the same uniform simple material or selection for 
all subjects irrespective of age and accomplishment. Since such 
materials must necessarily be sufficiently simple so as to fall within 
the range of the comprehension and reading power of the youngest 
subjects, there was some question as to the extent to which selec- 
tions chosen on this basis would constitute an adequate test of 
adult reading ability. According to the other alternative, several 
types of material could be chosen, each especially fitted for a 
specific group representing a definite level of accomplishment, the 
assumption being, of course, that the selections thus chosen would 
make nearly equal demands upon the various groups from the 
standpoint of the ability of each. The latter alternative was 
chosen. Since there were four distinct groups of subjects, namely, 
adults, high-school pupils, elementary pupils, and primary pupils, 
four corresponding types of materials were chosen. An attempt 
was made by means of careful analyses to choose in each case 
materials which would make about equal demands upon the 
capacities of the respective groups. The selections were taken 
from various sources: the adult group read light passages from 
James's Psychology; the high-school pupils, expository and de- 
scriptive passages from Irving's Sketch Book; the elementary 



APPARATUS, METHOD, AND SCOPE 



33 



pupils, narrative fable passages from the "Riverside Literature 
Series for Fifth Grade Reading"; and the primary pupils, i.e., 
the second- and third-grade pupils, very light fable passages from 
Fairy Stories and Fables ("Series of Eclectic Readings for 
Children "). Two selections of as nearly the same grade as possible 
were chosen for each group, the one for silent and the other for 
oral reading. 

The materials thus selected for the various groups were further 
compared by means of several preliminary tests. To begin with, 
each selection was read silently by two dozen adults, the time 
being carefully noted. It was interesting to note incidentally 
that the reading rate of these individuals varied in the ratio of 
i to 3, i.e., the most rapid reader read three times as fast as the 
slowest. The readers averaged 5 words per second for the adult 
selection, 5 words per second for the high-school selection, 5.5 
words per second for the elementary selection; and 6 words per 
second for the primary selection. The first two selections evidently 
made about equal demands upon adult readers; the demands of 
the third were slightly less, and those of the fourth correspondingly 
less than those of the third. The first three selections were then 
compared on the basis of photographic results. Records were 
secured for the reading of these selections from adult individuals 
No. 6 and No. 12. The findings are shown in Table I. The final 

TABLE I 

Showing Relative Difficulty of Selections 



Individual 


Selection 


Average 
No. of 
Pauses 


A.D. 


Average 
Duration 
of Pauses 


A.D. 


Average 

Fixation 

Time per 

Line 


Average 

No. of 

Refixations 

per Line 


Adult No. 


6 


Adult 


5-° 


0.64 


298 


92 


1,490 


1 .0 


Adult No. 


6 


Elementary 


5-i 


0.41 


250 


72 


1,275 


0. 71 


Adult No. 


6 


High-school 


6.0 


0-7S 


258 


80 


1,548 


0.4 


Adult No. 


12 


Adult 


5-7 


0.40 


294 


54 


1,075 


O.I3 


Adult No. 


12 


Elementary 


5-3 


0.60 


240 


64 


1,272 


0.18 


Adult No. 


1 2 


High-school 


6-5 


0.62 


252 


48 


1,638 


O.I2 



time results, given in terms of a under "average fixation time per 
line," are readily comparable with the results of the foregoing test. 
The relative rank of the selections, it will be observed, is about the 



34 STUDY IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF READING 

same in both cases. The adult and high-school selections tend 
to make similar demands in each case, while the elementary 
selection makes correspondingly lesser demands in both instances. 
It is not probable that the above figures afford an absolute index 
to the relative complexity of the selections, simply because the 
average reader does not read discriminatingly; he tends to read 
widely varying selections, provided they fall within the range of 
his experience and comprehension, at a rather uniform rate. 
Nevertheless, they afford perhaps as accurate an index as is avail- 
able. To say the least, they enable us to compare the reading 
capacities of children and adults as well as those of a variety of 
individuals. 

A further analysis of Table I brings out a very interesting and 
significant fact. Evidently equal time results may be due to 
varying factors. It will be observed, on the one hand, that the 
adult and elementary selections make nearly equal demands upon 
the number of pauses per line, while the demands of the high- 
school selection are slightly heavier in this respect; on the other 
hand, in the matter of the duration of pauses the demands of the 
adult selection are increased and those of the high-school selection 
decreased, so much so, in fact, that the two selections are placed 
on the same time level; in the case of the elementary selection, 
which makes the same demands upon the number of pauses per 
line as the adult selection, the duration time of the pauses is 
reduced sufficiently so as to rank its reading time materially below 
either of the above. Evidently selections may make varying 
demands upon the number and the duration time of pauses even 
though the reading time be nearly the same. 

In all, records were secured from more than ioo individuals. 
Only 83 of these were, however, directly concerned with the main 
part of the investigation, the data from the others being utilized 
for a variety of accessory purposes. Of the 83 individuals, 45 
were adults, mostly graduate and undergraduate students in 
education and psychology; 17 were high-school pupils, 4 being 
Freshmen, 4 Sophomores, 5 Juniors, and 4 Seniors; and 21 
were grade pupils distributed as follows: 4 from the seventh 
grade, 6 from the sixth, 4 from the fifth, 3 from the fourth, 



APPARATUS, METHOD, AND SCOPE 



35 



2 from the third, and 2 from the second. The subjects were all 
males. 

Since the data for the two types of reading and for the different 
individuals are largely based on one reading, the question of the 
reliability of the first reading naturally presents itself. Does 
such a reading afford a reliable index of an individual's reading 
capacity ? In order to secure data which would throw light upon 
this question, a number of individuals were required to read 
several selections of about the same grade. The results of the 
first reading were then compared with the averages of all the read- 
ings. Table II gives the results for adult individuals Nos. 1, 6, 

TABLE II 

Showing Reliability of First Reading 



Subject 


Kind of 
Reading 


No. of 
Readings 


Average 
No. of 
Pauses 


A.D. 


Average 
Duration 
of Pauses 


A.D. 


Average 

Fixation 

Time per 

Line 


Average 
No. of 

Refutations 


Adult No. 6 


Silent 


First 


55 


0.50 


310 


74 


1,705 


0.50 


Adult No. 6 


Silent 


6 


5 


1 


o-SS 


3°7 


88 


1,565 


O.78 


Adult No. 1 


Silent 


First 


4 


7 


0.50 


357 


72 


1,677 


O.3O 


Adult No. i 


Silent 


3 


4 


6 


0.44 


35° 


9i 


I,6lO 


O.4O 


Adult No. 12 


Silent 


First 


5 


7 


0.40 


294 


54 


1,675 


O.I3 


Adult No. 12 


Silent 


4 


s 


6 


0-53 


239 


5^ 


1,338 


O. II 


Adult No. 6 


Oral 


First 


7 


8 


1 . 10 


384 


160 


2,995 


2.6o 


Adult No. 6 


Oral 


6 


7 


4 


o.75 


398 


136 


2,945 


2. IO 



and 12 in the case of silent reading, and also for oral reading in 
the case of individual No. 6. It is evident that there is throughout 
a slight gain in efficiency as the series of readings progresses, i.e., 
the time requirements are slightly less in the case of the average of 
several readings than in the case of the first reading. In some 
cases this difference is almost trivial, and in no case is it sufficient 
to invalidate the results of the first reading. Keeping in mind, 
then, the presence of this slight error, we may regard the results 
of the first reading as a fairly reliable index to an individual's 
average accomplishment. 

The scope of this investigation was further enlarged by giving 
comprehension tests to all subjects except those of the adult group. 
In addition the majority of the records are of binocular reading, i.e., 
they represent the behavior of both eyes. This, together with 



36 STUDY IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF READING 

the fact that the apparatus made possible measurement of eye- 
movement in the vertical plane, will afford valuable psychological 
data quite apart from pedagogical implications. 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES 

i. Dodge, R. "An Experimental Study of Visual Fixation," Psychological 
Review, Monograph Supplement, Vol. VIII, No. 4 (1907). 

2. Ibid., p. 81. 

3. Ibid., especially pp. 84-91. 

4. Dearborn, W. F. Psychology of Reading, pp. 16 ff., and especially p. 18. 

5. Thorndike, E. L. "The Measurement of Ability in Reading," Teachers 
College Record, XV (September, 1916). 



CHAPTER IV 

STATEMENT AND DISCUSSION OF RESULTS 

A. TABLES, FIGURES, AND CHARTS 

The results of this study have been reduced as far as possible 
to tables, figures, and charts. Since most of the tables represent 
certain common features, it will be economical to discuss these in 
general before referring to individual tables. To begin with, the 
subjects comprising the several groups are ranked in the tables on 
the basis of the number of pauses which they made in the silent 
reading of their respective selections, a convenient unit in this case 
being the average number of pauses per line. This was secured 
by dividing the total number of pauses made in the reading of a 
selection by the number of lines in the selection. It is followed in 
each case by the average deviation, this being determined by 
dividing the sum of all the deviations by the number of lines in 
the selection. The individuals are of course ranked in ascending 
order, those requiring the least number of pauses coming first. 
In succeeding columns the same facts are given for oral reading. 
Then follow columns showing the average durations of pauses for 
both silent and oral reading, the unit of time being the <r. The 
average duration of the pauses is determined by dividing the sum 
of the durations of all the pauses in a selection by the total number 
of pauses in the selection. These are followed in each case by the 
deviations from the average, the latter being determined by dividing 
the sum of all the deviations by the number of pauses in the selec- 
tion. In other columns are given the average fixation times per 
line for both silent and oral reading. These really represent the 
reading time per line minus the time spent in interfixation move- 
ments and the return sweep. They may be determined by mul- 
tiplying the average number of pauses per line by the average 
duration of the pauses in the selection or by dividing the sum of 
the durations of all the pauses in the selection by the number of lines 
in the selection. Since the time spent in interfixation movements 

37 



38 STUDY IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF READING 

and the return sweep is very brief and comparatively uniform, the 
average fixation time per line affords a very reliable index to rate 
of reading, and consequently an excellent coefficient for purposes 
of comparison. Finally, there is a column indicating the average 
number of refixations per line. The term "refixation" is limited 
strictly to definite movements to the left, excluding the return 
sweep, of course. Aside from running in the opposite direction, 
these refixation movements appear exactly like the interfixation 
movements on the records. The average number per line is 
determined by dividing the total number of refixations in the 
selection by the number of lines in the selection. 

There are eleven tables in all. Table I (p. 33) gives the results 
of one of the preliminary tests, the purpose of which was to estimate 
the relative difficulty of the adult, high-school, and elementary 
selections. The comparison is made on the basis of the average 
number of pauses per line, the average duration of pauses, the 
average fixation time per line, and the average number of refixations 
per line. Table II (p. 35) gives the results of the test which was 
to determine the extent to which the results of the first reading 
afford a reliable index to a subject's reading capacity. The 
comparisons are made on the same bases as in the case of Table I. 
Table III gives the total results for the silent and oral reading 
of the adult group. The arrangement of the data is such that 
the two types of reading can be readily compared on the basis 
of the average number of pauses per line, the average duration of 
pauses, the average fixation time per line, and the average number 
of refixations per line. In fact, separate columns show the actual 
quantitative differences in each case. Tables IV and V present in 
the same manner the totals for the high-school and the elementary 
groups, respectively. In addition the last two tables contain 
the data which make possible comparison on the basis of com- 
prehension. Table VI presents, on the same bases as the above, 
the total results for the several groups and for their respective 
subgroups. It is intended to facilitate the comparison of the 
accomplishments of the different groups. Table VII makes 
possible a comparison of the three groups on the basis of the average 
number of pauses per line and the ranges for both silent and oral 



STATEMENT AND DISCUSSION OF RESULTS 



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STATEMENT AND DISCUSSION OF RESULTS 



43 



reading. Accordingly, the average number of pauses is given for 
each of the three groups and for the minimal and maximal individ- 
uals in each group. Tables VIII and IX present in the same 

TABLE VII 

Comparison of Groups on the Basis of the Average Number of Pauses per 
Line in Both Silent and Oral Reading 





No. OF 
Readers 


Silent Reading 


Oral Reading 




Average 

No. of 

Pauses per 

Line for 
Group 


Range 


Average 
No. of 
Pauses per 
Line for 
Group 


Range 


Class of Readers 


Average for 
Individual 

Making 

Least No. 

of Pauses 

per Line 


Average for 
Individual 

Making 

LargestNo. 

of Pauses 

per Line 


Average for 
Individual 
Making 
Least No. 
of Pauses 
per Line 


Average for 
Individual 

Making 
LargestNo. 
of Pauses 

per Line 


Adults 


45 
17 
21 


6-5 
7.0 

6-3 


4-7 
50 

4-1 


IO.8 
9.6 
9-3 


8.2 
8.6 
8.1 


6.5 
7.2 
6.1 


"■3 


High-school pupils 
Grade pupils 


10. 2 
"5 



manner and for the same purpose the data for the average duration 
of pauses and for the average fixation time per line, respectively. 
Table X brings out on a percentage basis for the three groups 

TABLE VIII 

Comparison of Groups on the Basis of the Average Duration of Pauses 
in Both Silent and Oral Reading 





No. of 
Readers 


Silent Reading 


Oral Reading 




Average 

Durationof 

Pauses for 

Group 


Range 


Average 

Durationof 

Pauses for 

Group 


Range 


Class of Readers 


Average 
Durationof 
Pauses for 
Minimum 
Individ- 
uals 


Average 
Durationof 
Pauses for 
Maximum 

Individ- 
uals 


Average 
Durationof 
Pauses for 
Minimum 

Individ- 
uals 


Average 
Durationof 
Pauses for 
Maximum 

Individ- 
uals 


Adults 


45 
17 
21 


308.2 
311. I 

3I40 


214 
244 
264 


470 
414 

438 


380.8 

3729 
398.0 


230 
306 

300 


520 


High-school pupils 
Grade pupils 


512 

524 



the excess expenditure in oral reading as compared with silent, 
the bases of comparison being average number of pauses per line, 
average duration of pauses, average fixation time per line, average 
number of refixations per line, and average deviations. Table XI 



44 



STUDY IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF READING 



TABLE IX 

Comparison of Groups on the Basis of the Average Fixation Time per Line 
in Both Silent and Oral Reading 





No. OF 
Readers 


Silent Reading 


Oral Reading 


Class of Readers 


Average 

Time per 

Line for 

Group 


Average 
Time per 
Line for 
Minimum 

Individ- 
uals 


Average 
Time per 
Line for 
Maximum 
Individ- 
uals 


Average 

Time per 

Line for 

IGroup 


Average 
Time per 
Line for 
Minimum 
Individ- 
uals 


Average 
Time per 
Line for 
Maximum 
Individ- 
uals 


Adults 


45 
17 
21 


2,012.4 
2,229.7 
1,972.7 


1,140.0 
1,370.0 
1,189.0 


3,684.8 
3,360.0 
2,964.6 


3,131-5 

3,200.4 

3,23L5 


1,702.0 
2,356 -2 
2,210.0 


4,056.0 
4,171.0 
4,454 


High-school pupils 
Grade pupils 



TABLE X 

Showing Percentage of Excess Expenditure in Oral Reading Compared with 

Silent Reading 



Class of Readers 


No. of 
Readers 


No. 
of Pauses 
per Line 


A.D. 


Duration 
.of Pauses 


A.D. 


Average 
Time per 

Line 


Relaxations 


Adults 


45 
17 
21 


Per Cent 
26 

23 

28 


Per Cent 
12 
34 
63 


Per Cent 

23 
20 

27 


Per Cent 

55 
44 
50 


Per Cent 

55 
44 
64 


Per Cent 
74 
55 
62 


High-school pupils 
Elementary pupils 



TABLE XI 

Correlations 





Silent 
and Oral 


Silent Reading 


Oral Reading 


Class of Readers 


go 

PP 


Between Average 
No. and Aver- 
age Duration 
of Pauses 


BetweenAverage 
No. of Pauses 
and Total Fix- 
ation Time per 
Line 


Between Aver- 
age Duration 
of Pauses and 
Total Fixation 
Time per Line 


BetweenAverage 
No. and Aver- 
age Duration 
of Pauses 


BetweenAverage 
No. of Pauses 
and Total Fix- 
ation Time per 
Line 


Between Aver- 
age Duration 
of Pauses and 
Total Fixation 
Time per Line 


Adults 


r— 

0.693=*= 
0.051 

r = 
0.634=*= 
0.097 

r== 

°-5°5 ± 
0. 108 


r — 

—0.004 

r = 

0.590=*= 
0.103 

r = 
0.012 


r = 
0.660=*= 
0.057 

r = 

. 904 =*= 
0.020 

r = 
0.920=*= 
0.031 


r— 

0552* 
0.084 

r— 

0-737* 
0.073 

r = 

0. 290=*= 
0133 


r = 
-0.023 

r== 

—0.0008 

r = 

— . 0038 


r — 

0.681=*= 
0.053 
r— 
0.612=*= 

O.IOI 

r = 

0.823=*= 
0.047 


r = 

0.546=*= 
0.070 

r = 

0.941=*= 
0.018 

r = 

0.397=*= 
0.115 


High-school pupils 
Elementary pupils 



STATEMENT AND DISCUSSION OF RESULTS 



45 



shows the correlations between: the average number of pauses 
in silent and in oral reading, the average number of pauses per 
line and the average duration of pauses for both silent and oral 
reading, the average number of pauses per line and the average 
fixation time per line for silent and oral reading, and the average 
duration of pauses per line and the average fixation time per line 
for both types of reading. The Pearson formula for determining 
the coefficient of correla- 
tion was used. 

Figs. 1-4 represent 
the distributions of the 
three groups for both 
silent and oral reading, 
Figs. 1 and 2 showing 
the distributions on the 
basis of the average 
number of pauses and 
Figs. 3 and 4 those on 
the basis of the average 
duration of pauses. 
Since the groups vary- 
in size, the frequencies 
were all reduced to per- 
centages. In order to 
bring out possible tend- 
encies due to the grade 
rank of pupils, the posi- 
tions of the subjects 
in the high-school and 

elementary groups are indicated within the frequencies of their 
respective distributions, the former being designated by Roman 
numerals, I standing for Freshmen, II for Sophomores, etc., and 
the latter by Arabic, 2 standing for second grade, 3 for third, etc. 
On this basis Fig. 1 shows the distributions with respect to the 
average number of pauses per line in silent reading, the class 
interval being one pause. Fig. 2 gives the same distributions for 
oral reading. Fig. 3 shows the distributions on the basis of the 





1 




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Adult group 

High-school group 

Elementary grcap — 

Fig. 1. — Distributions on the basi o\ 
number of pauses. Silent reading. 



the 



46 



STUDY IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF READING 



average duration of pauses for silent reading, the class interval 
being in this case 50 er. Fig. 4 gives the same distributions for 

oral reading. Fig. 5 shows 



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the distributions on the basis 
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of reading. 

Charts I— III (pp. 50-52) 
show the location of pauses in 
both silent and oral reading 
for representative individuals 
of the three groups. Three 
individuals represent each 
group, one making a minimal, 
one an average, and one a 
maximal number of pauses 
per line. The location of the 
pauses within the lines is in- 
dicated by dots over the 
lines. The dots represent 
merely the initial point of 
location; shifting during 
pauses has been estimated, 
but is not recorded on the 
charts. It should be noted 
further that the location of 



High- school group 

Elementary group the dots shows merely the 

_. ., . , , . , „, horizontal position of the 

Fig. 2. — Distributions on the basis of the ^ 

number of pauses. Oral reading. fixation pauses, no attempt 

having been made to locate 
these with reference to the height of words or letters. 



FIXATION PAUSES 



Erdmann and Dodge, as previously indicated, early came to 
the conclusion that from 12/13 to 2 3/ 2 4 °f the total reading time 
was spent in pauses. This conclusion has since been generally 
substantiated, so much so. in fact, that the fixation pause is now 



STATEMENT AND DISCUSSION OF RESULTS 



47 



without exception regarded as the only period of significant stimula- 
tion. A certain amount of indirect vision may be present during 
movement, but this serves largely purposes of orientation. This 
being the case, the fixation 
pause must necessarily con- 
stitute the point of depar- 
ture in investigations of this 
kind. Accordingly, our 
interest centers about the 
pause, its nature, number, 
duration, and location. 

i. Nature of fixation 
pauses. — As stated above, 
the pause is the period of 
significant stimulation. 
This does not mean, of 
course, that the pause itself 
is limited to clear vision. 
Both Dodge and Dearborn 
hold that it involves indis- 
tinct or peripheral vision 
quite as much as distinct 
or central vision. The 
former particularly holds 
that peripheral vision plays 
a very important part in 
the reading process. Not 
only does it serve purposes 
of general orientation, but 
it affords "premonitions of 
coming words and phrases, 
as well as a consciousness of 
the relation of the immedi- 
ately fixated symbols to the larger groups of phrase and sentence. 
Without this premonition of coming words and the outlines of 
larger groups the process of reading would be slow and difficult." 
At times this indistinct vision may even condition actual reading. 





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5 










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200 250 300 350 400 450 500 



Adult group 

High-school group 

Elementary group 

Fig. 3. — Distributions on the basis of the 
duration of pauses. Silent reading. 



4 8 



STUDY IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF READING 



The moment of clear vision, on the other hand, is for Dodge "an 
incident somewhere in the middle of the reading process. Coming 
between the premonition and the after-echo, its effect is to correct, 
to confirm, and to intensify the premonition. Psychologically, its 
function is selective and definitive. It emphasizes the excitation 

















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200 250 300 350 400 450 500 550 



Adult group 

High- school group • 
Elementary group- • 



Fig 4. — Distributions on the basis of the duration of pauses. Oral reading. 

of suitable residua and inhibits the misfits" (1). Dearborn's 
views are similar, though he has not elaborated them as much. 
He accounts, for instance, for the somewhat longer initial pauses 
in the case of each line by assuming that the eye makes at this time 
a general survey of the whole or of a part of the line (2). As 
will be pointed out later, the length of the initial pauses, in so far 



STATEMENT AND DISCUSSION OF RESULTS 
21 



49 







19 


19 




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Reading 


11 












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1 1 




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Reading 



13 



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Fig. 5. — Distributions for silent and oral reading on the basis of perception (or 
reading) time. 



50 STUDY IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF READING 

Location of Pauses in Silent and Oral .Reading 
silent — adult no. 3 c. average, $ pauses 
The selection of a particular hole to live in, of a particular mate, of a partic- 
ular feeding-ground, a particular variety of diet, a particular anything, in short, 
out of a possible multitude, is a very widespread tendency among animals, 
even those low down in the scale* The limpet will return to Che same sti* king- 
place fn the rock, and* the lobster to its favorite nook' on the sea-bottom. The 
rabbit will deposit its dung in the same corner; the bird makes its nest on the 
same bough. But each of these preferences carries with it an insensibility to 
other opportunities and 

SILENT — ADULT NO. II C. AVERAGE, 7 PAUSES 

Thefselection of a particular Hole to live in, of a particular mat'e, of a partic- 
ular feeding-g'round, a particular variety of diet, a 'particular anything, in short, 
ou*t of a possible multitude, is a very widespread tendency among animals, 
even th<*se low'down in the scale. The limpe't will return to the'same sticking- 
place in trie rock, and'the lobs'ter to its favorite nook on the sea-bottom. The 
rabl>it will deposit it's dung in the'same comer;' the bird makes its nest on the 
same bough. But each of these preferences carries with it an insensibility to 
otlier opportunities and 

SILENT — ADULT NO. 1 9 C. AVERAGE, IO.8 PAUSES 

The selection of a particular hole to live m, of a particular* mate' of a partic- 
ular feeding-ground, a particular variety'of diet, a pa'rticular anything, in'sho'rt, 
out of a possible multitude* is a very widespread tendency among animals,' 
even those low down in the scale* Th'e limpet will return to the same sticking- 
place in the rock* and'the lobster to it's favorite nook on the sea-bottom. The 
rabbit will de*posit its dung in the s'ame corner; trie bird mak'es its ne*st oh the 
same bough.' But each of these preferences carries with it an insensibility to 
other opportunities and 

ORAL — ADULT NO. 3 C. AVERAGE, 8 PAUSES 

Leaving lower animals aside! and turning to human instincts, we see the 
law of transiency corrobora'ted on th'e widest scale by the alternations of dif- 
ferent interests and passions as human life goes on. With the cliild life is all 

ORAL — ADULT XO. II C. AVERAGE 9.2 PAUSES 

Leaving lower animals aside, and turning to hum'an instincts, we see the 
la\v*of transiency CQrroborat'ed on th'e widest scale by th'e alternations of dif- 
ferent interests and passions as human life'goes on' With the'ehild life is all 

ORAL — ADULT NO. 19 C. AVERAGE, II. 3 PAUSES 

Lea'ving lower animals a'side, and turning to human instincts, we see the 
law of 'transiency corrobora'ted on the widest scale by the alternations of dif- 
ferent interests and passions as human life goes on. With 'the child life is all 

Chart I 



STATEMENT AND DISCUSSION OF RESULTS 51 

as they are longer than the rest, is in all probability conditioned 
by necessary motor adjustments. This fact, however, does not 
preclude the possibility of a more general incidental survey of the 

SILENT— HIGH-SCHOOL INDIVIDUAL NO I. AVERAGE, 5 PAUSES 

The' stranger who would form a correct opinion -6i the English character 
must not confine his observations to the metropolis. He must go forth into 
the country;' he must sojourn in villag'es and hamlets; he must visit castles," 
villas, farmhouses, co'ttages; he' must wander through parks and gardens; 

SILENT— HIGH-SCHOOL INDIVIDUAL NO II. AVERAGE, 7.5 PAUSES 

The stranger who would form a correct opinion o'f the English character 
must not confine his observations to the metropolis He must go fo'rth into 
the country; he must so'journ in villages and hamlets, he must visit castles,' 
villas, farmhouses, cottages; he must wander through parks and gardens, 

SILENT — HIGH-SCHOOL INDIVIDUAL NO 1 5 AVERAGE, 8.5 PAUSES 

The stranger wh*o would form a correct opinion of the English character 
mus't not confine his observations to the metropolis He must go fo'rth into 
the' country; he must sojourn in villages and hamle'ts, he must visit ca'stles, 
villas, farmhouses, cottages; he must wander through parks and gardens, 

*ORAL — HIGH-SCHOOL INDIVIDUAL NO. I. AVERAGE, 7«2 PAUSES 

Those who are in the habit of remarking such matters must h'ave noticed 
the passive quiet of 'an English landscape on Sunday* The clacking of the 
mill, the regularly recurring stroke 'of the flail, the din of the blacksmith's 
hammer, the whistling of the ploughman, the rattling of the cart, ancl all 

ORAL — HIGH-SCHOOL INDIVIDUAL NO. II. AVERAGE, 8.7 PAUSES 

Those who are in the habit of remarking such matters must have noticed 
the passive quiet of an English landscape on Sunday* The clacking of the 
mill, the regularly recurring stroke o'f the flail, the din of the ftlacksmitlTs 
hammer, the whistling of the ploughman, the rattling of'the carfand all 

ORAL — HIGH-SCHOOL INDIVIDUAL NO. 1 5. AVERAGE, 9 PAUSES 

Those who are in the habit of remarking such matters'must have noticed 
the passive quiet of an English landscape on Sunday * The clacking of the 
Tmill, the regnkmy recurring stroke of the flail, the din of, the blacksmith's 
hammer, the whistling of the ploughman, the rattling o'f the cart, anTj all 

Chart II 

line during such fixations. In fact, motor adjustments go hand 
in hand with perception in connection with all fixation pauses. 
It would be quite fallacious, however, to attribute the premonition 
of which Dodge speaks entirely to indirect vision, or to vision in 



52 STUDY IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF READING 

general, for much of it comes undoubtedly from the context. 
The reader is, as it were, immersed in the meaning of that which 
is being read, be it the sentence, the paragraph, or the selection. 
Without such cues indirect vision would be seriously handicapped. 
As it is, the two undoubtedly go hand in hand. 

SILENT — ELEMENTARY INDIVIDUAL NO. 6. AVERAGE, 5.6 PAUSES 

There was once a man who Kad th'ree sons, and nothing els'e in the world 
but the house in which he lived. Now ea'ch of th'e sons wished to have the 
ho'use after his father's death; but the father loved ttiem all alike, and did not" 
know what to do; fie did not 

SILENT — ELEMENTARY INDIVIDUAL NO. IO. AVERAGE, 6 PAUSES 

There was once a' man who had three sons, and nothing else in the world 
but the house in which lie lived. Now e'ach of the sons wished to have the 
house after his father's death; btrt trie father loved th'em all alike, and did not 
know what to do; he did not 

SILENT — ELEMENTARY INDIVIDUAL NO. 1 6. AVERAGE, 7.3 PAUSES 

There was once a man who ha'd trlree sons, and nothing else in the world 
b'ut the ho'use in which he live'd. Now ea'ch of the' sons wished to h'ave the 
house afte'r his father's death; but the fath'er loved th'em all alike," and did' 
not know wh'at to do; lie did not 

ORAL — ELEMENTARY INDIVIDUAL NO. 6. AVERAGE, 7.6 PAUSES 

One summer morning a little Tailor'was sitting on his table by trie window* 
he'was in good spirits, and sewed with all his might. There came a woman 
down th'e street crying, "Good 'jams cheap! Good jams cheap!" 

ORAL — ELEMENTARY INDIVIDUAL NO. IO. AVERAGE, 8.8 PAUSES 

One summer morning a little Tailor w'as sitting on his table b'y the window; 
he was in good spirits, and sewed with all h*is might.' There came a. woman 
down th'e street crying, "Good ja'ms ch'eap! Good jams cheap!" 

ORAL — ELEMENTARY INDTVTDUAL NO. 16. AVERAGE, 7.3 PAUSES 

One summer morning a little Tailor'was sitting o'n his table by'the window; 
he was in good spirits, and sewed with all rTis might. There came a woman 
down th'e street crying, "Good jams cheap! Good jams cheap!" 

Chart III 

A discussion of the nature of the fixation pause necessarily 
involves the question of the nature of the behavior of the eye 
during fixation. How does the eye behave during fixation ? 
Does it move freely or is it held in absolute position ? While the 
whole question of the behavior of the eye during the reading 



STATEMENT AND DISCUSSION OF RESULTS 53 

process will be discussed in a later chapter, the main facts, at 
least as far as they concern the behavior of the eye during fixation, 
may be anticipated at this time. As previously noted in the his- 
torical resume, Dodge, McAllister, and Dearborn came to the 
conclusion that the eye was by no means always at rest during 
fixation; in fact, the first two felt that it was generally in motion. 
However, their conclusions were based upon a study of fixations 
in isolation, that is, apart from regular reading. It was accordingly 
significant to note that Dearborn, whose study involved fixations 
as found in actual reading, discovered great individual variation, 
some subjects maintaining remarkably steady fixations, while 
those of others appeared equally unsteady. Some of the unsteadi- 
ness, too, was in all probability due to head-movement, since it 
was not possible to exclude the latter entirely or to distinguish 
it clearly from eye-movement. And at best the number of sub- 
jects in the case of each of the foregoing experimenters was too 
small to warrant final conclusions. At any rate, the results of 
the present investigation show that the majority of the individuals 
tend to maintain remarkably steady fixations during normal 
reading. Many of the irregularities which seemed at first to 
indicate eye-movement are clearly due to head-movement, and 
possibly in rare cases to slight vibrations of the apparatus. By 
securing records simultaneously of head-movement and eye- 
movement, the former by means of photographic records of light 
reflected from a highly polished metal ball fastened to one end 
of a pair of spectacle rims, and the latter by the usual process of 
photographing light reflected from the cornea during actual reading, 
and, further, by securing independent records of possible vibrations 
of the apparatus by photographing light reflected from points of 
reference on the apparatus, it was possible to analyze the regular 
reading records and to single out the several components, such as 
vibrations of the apparatus, head-movement, and eye-movement. 
The results show that vibrations of the apparatus were practically 
non-existent, while head-movements were quite common. In 
fact, a large proportion of the irregularities and deviations on the 
records is clearly due to head-movement. Deviations involving 
a gradual change in direction in the case of the vertical lines of 



54 STUDY IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF READING 

dots and blanks standing for the fixation pauses represent the 
most common type of eye-movement, namely, the type involving 
convergent adjustment. It is most clearly in evidence in the case 
of the initial fixation pauses of each line, though it is by no means 
limited to these pauses. As will be pointed out in the next chapter, 
all rapid eye-movements, such as are involved in the interfixation 
movements and the return sweep, are accompanied by divergence, 
and all fixation is accompanied by some degree of convergence. 
These adjustments involve eye-movement in both planes, the 
horizontal and the vertical. They account for the bulk of eye- 
movement during fixation, the type of eye-movement which is 
the very essence of the motor adjustment conditioning the percep- 
tual process. Two minor types of eye-movement will also be 
discussed, the one representing a more elementary type of eye- 
movement than that which is involved in divergent and convergent 
adjustment, and the other being indicative of a slight unsteadiness 
of the eyes during fixation. 

2. Number of pauses. — Dearborn was the first to note that 
the number of pauses required for the reading of a given line or a 
given selection is subject to great individual variation. His 
subjects averaged from 3.0 to 7.1 pauses per line in reading the 
same newspaper passage. The results of the present investigation 
are quite as striking in this respect. In fact, individual variation 
is so much in evidence that other factors, such as age and training, 
sink into comparative insignificance. The wide variations are 
evident at a glance. The individual averages range in the case 
of silent reading from 4.1 to 10.8 pauses, and in the case of the 
oral from 6.1 to 1 1 . 5 pauses per line. 

The first six columns of Tables III-V give all the data regarding 
the number of pauses for the three groups, individual averages 
being included. Figs. 1 and 2 show the distributions of the groups 
on the basis of the number of pauses per line. The facts in each 
case indicate that the wide ranges referred to above cannot be 
accounted for on the basis of extreme stray individuals, since the 
distributions aside from being skewed approximate normality. 
In the case of silent reading (Fig. 1) the distributions are all skewed 
toward the extreme representing the large number of pauses. 



STATEMENT AND DISCUSSION OF RESULTS 55 

The same tendency is evident in the distributions for oral reading 
(Fig. 2), particularly in the case of the adult and the elementary 
groups, the high-school group showing in this instance a narrower 
range and somewhat greater uniformity. Although these dis- 
tributions, especially those of the high-school and elementary 
groups, are based on too small a number of subjects to warrant 
final inferences, there are nevertheless in evidence certain tendencies 
which would in all probability not be materially affected by an 
increase in numbers. The fact that there is, with but one exception, 
only one interval or class beyond the modal class at the extreme 
representing the small number of pauses indicates undoubtedly 
that there is a rather definite limit, physiologically and psycholog- 
ically determined, below which the number of pauses cannot be 
readily reduced in reading lines of a given length and complexity. 
A great many individuals evidently tend to approximate this 
limit. The persistent tendency of the skew toward the end 
representing the large number of pauses, as well as the accom- 
panying tendency toward wide dispersion, indicates that there is 
room for much greater variation on this end than on the former. 
In other words, although individuals cannot read lines of a given 
length and complexity without making a certain minimal number 
of pauses, they may vary greatly above this, some requiring an 
exceptionally large number of pauses. This has reference, of 
course, to normal reading at either average or maximal speed, 
normal reading being defined as the type of reading in which the 
subject reads the successive words and lines without skimming. 
The reading in this investigation was, as will be pointed out later, 
average or careful normal reading. Individual variation in the 
number of pauses is no doubt conditioned chiefly by two factors, 
physiological and psychological limitations on the one hand and 
individual habits on the other. Tachistoscopic experimentation 
has shown clearly that the field of clear vision and the span of 
attention are subject to great individual variation. There is 
reason to believe that there is a close correlation between such 
variation and variation in the number of pauses. Similarly, a 
careful questioning of the adult subjects in this investigation has 
brought out the fact that reading habits vary widely. Many 



56 STUDY IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF READING 

subjects appear to have remained almost entirely unconscious 
of the reading process. They read naively, as it were, their reading 
habits having been determined by circumstantial and chance 
factors. Such readers rarely approach the natural limits referred 
to above. Some readers, on the other hand, appear to be thor- 
oughly conscious of the reading process. In fact, their present 
reading habits are the result of conscious direction. Such readers 
frequently approach very closely the limits set by their natural 
capacities. It is safe to say, however, that this latter class is 
distinctly in the minority. 

The number of pauses made in the reading of a given line 
naturally determines the amount read per fixation; the fewer the 
number of pauses the larger will be the number of words read, and 
vice versa. Dearborn's readers, it will be recalled, averaged for 
silent reading in the case of the newspaper line from 1.9 to 1 . o 
words per fixation. In the present investigation the adult sub- 
jects average for silent reading from 2 . 15 to o. 93 words per fixation, 
the high-school students from 2.04 to 1.04 words, and the ele- 
mentary pupils from 2 . 44 to 1 . 04 words. For oral reading the 
averages for the same groups vary respectively from 1.52 to 0.87 
word, from 1.39 to 0.98 word, and from 1.62 to 0.86 word. It 
is evident that there is in this respect a close agreement between 
the results of the two studies. 

Column 1 of Table XI shows that there is a rather high correla- 
tion between the number of pauses in silent and in oral reading. 
In other words, an individual is likely to occupy a somewhat 
similar rank in the number of pauses which he requires for silent 
and oral reading. This might imply on the one hand the domina- 
tion of a common capacity, and on the other the domination of a 
common habit. It is difficult to tell which figures more prom- 
inently. If habit is the chief factor, conscious improvement in the 
rate of reading ought to change the correlations. That this may 
actually happen at times is shown by the fact that the more rapid 
and conscious readers show a lesser degree of correlation. Such 
readers make, of course, a greater distinction between the number 
of pauses for silent and for oral reading than do the slower. In 
the case of oral reading the possibilities for improvement are 
limited; hence the change in correlation. 



STATEMENT AND DISCUSSION OF RESULTS 57 

Table XI indicates, further, that there is a very high correla- 
tion between the average number of pauses per line and the 
total perception time per line. In the case of silent reading the 
correlations for the adult, high-school, and elementary groups 
are, respectively, o.66o= 1 = 0.057, 0.904=^0.020, o.92o= fc o.03i. 
For oral reading the corresponding figures are, respectively, 
o.68i= fc o.os3, o. 612=^0.101, 0.823 ="=0.047. Pause rank is evi- 
dently a very strong factor in determining speed efficiency in 
both silent and oral reading. 

3. Duration of pauses. — The average duration of pauses is 
subject to about as much individual variation as is their number. 
Dearborn found that the averages for four of his readers in the 
case of the newspaper column ranged from 160.8 to 401.9 a. 
The complete individual averages as well as the averages for the 
groups in the case of the present study are given in columns 7-12 
inclusive of Tables III-V. In addition, Table VIII shows the 
averages and ranges for the three groups. The averages for the 
groups, it will be noticed, approximate each other closely. This 
is true for both silent and oral reading. The wide ranges between 
the averages of the minimal and maximal individuals in each 
group are evident at a glance. In silent reading the adults vary 
from 214 to 470 a, the high-school students from 244 to 414 a, and 
the elementary pupils from 264 to 438 a. In oral reading the 
ranges are even wider, the averages for the adults ranging from 
230 to 520 a, those for the high-school students from 306 to 512 <x, 
and those for the elementary group from 300 to 524 a. It should 
be noticed, however, that these ranges are somewhat more influ- 
enced by a few exceptional individuals at the extremes than in the 
case of silent reading. This is shown by the individual data in 
Tables III-V, and also by the distributions of the groups as repre- 
sented by Figs. 3 and 4, Fig. 3 giving the distributions for silent 
and Fig. 4 those for oral reading, the class interval being 50 <r. 
It is interesting to note that these distributions tend to be skewed 
in the same direction as the distributions for the number of pauses 
(Figs. 1 and 2). The skewness in each case is toward the maximal 
extreme. There are, however, two exceptions, namely, the dis- 
tribution for the high-school group in the case of silent reading 
(Fig. 3) and the distribution of the adult group in the case of oral 



58 STUDY IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF READING 

reading (Fig. 4). On the whole, however, there appears to be 
in the case of the duration of pauses, as in the case of their number, 
a rather well-defined lower limit which tends to be approximated 
by a considerable number of individuals. At the other extreme 
more variation is in evidence in both cases. 

While the results regarding the duration of pauses are in general 
agreement for the different groups of the present investigation, 
it is evident that they differ from Dearborn's findings as quoted 
above. Not only is his range (from 160.8 to 401.9 a) materially 
wider, but his maximal and minimal averages are considerably 
lower. In fact, his duration times appear to be lower all around. 
The short maximal duration might be accounted for by the fact 
that Dearborn's data are derived from a small group of subjects, 
but this does not account for the wider range, nor for the shorter 
minimal average, and, least of all, for the all-around shorter duration 
times. A comparison of the materials used in the two investiga- 
tions shows that they do not vary sufficiently to account for the 
discrepancy. The technique, apparatus, and methods used in 
measuring the duration times were not only very similar in the 
two experiments, but they were so carefully devised and so well 
controlled as to preclude error from that source. Evidently the 
explanation must be sought elsewhere. It is significant to note 
to begin with that Dearborn's minimum duration averages are 
very low when compared with the reaction time of the eye as 
determined by Huey and Dodge. Huey found a visual re- 
action time of 206.9 a (A.D. 20.7 a) (3). Dodge quotes 
averages varying from 151. o a (M.V. 9.9 a) to 181. o a (M.V. 
19. 1 a) (4). With one exception these reaction times exceed 
Dearborn's minimum duration averages. As both writers indicate 
in their discussions, it is quite possible that the duration of pauses 
may at times fall below the normal reaction time of the eye because 
of the heightened readiness for the stimulus, the latter being due, 
of course, to preparatory peripheral perception and to implications 
from the context. It is not probable, however, that all the pauses 
or even the average of the pauses in a given selection would be 
shorter in duration than the reaction time of the eye. If such 
cases do occur, one would expect them in connection with excep- 



STATEMENT AND DISCUSSION OF RESULTS 59 

tionally rapid reading. A comparison of Dearborn's results on 
the basis of the number of words read per second with the results 
of other experimenters shows clearly that his readers were either 
exceptionally rapid readers or that they read at a maximal speed 
during the experiments. His minimal subject T shows, in the case 
of the newspaper lines, an average duration time of 160.8 a, the 
average number of pauses per line being 3.7. This gives an average 
fixation or reading time per line of 594 a. With an average of 
7 . 1 words per line, the reading rate (in terms of the number of 
words per second) amounts to n. 7 words per second. On the 
same basis his maximal (slowest) subject averages 3 . 2 words per 
second (5). Quantz found that his subjects averaged in normal 
silent reading from 3.5 to 8.8 words per second; for reading at 
maximal rate the averages ranged from 3.5 to 12.2 words per 
second (6). Similarly, Huey's subjects averaged in normal silent 
reading from 2.5 to 9.8 words per second and in silent reading 
at maximal rate from 3.5 to 13 . 5 (7). Starch, who tested approx- 
imately 10,000 elementary pupils, arrives at a standard score of 
4.0 words per second for eighth-grade pupils (8); Oberholtzer 
found an eighth-grade average of 4.8 words per second (9); and 
the eighth grades in the Norman public schools, tested by the 
writer, averaged 4.4 words per second. In the present experiment 
the subjects average from 2.7 to 8.7 words per second (see adult 
subjects Nos. 5 and 43). Dearborn's figures, it will be noticed, 
correspond closely to both Quantz's and Huey's figures for silent 
reading at maximal rate; the figures for the present investigation, 
on the other hand, approximate very closely the averages for 
normal silent reading as given by Quantz and Huey. Similarly, 
the averages for the groups, being in this case 5.15 words per 
second for the adults, 4.56 words per second for the high-school 
pupils, and 5 . 1 words per second for the elementary pupils, cor- 
respond closely to the averages for the eighth grades referred to 
above. The conditions under which the grade tests were given 
were such as to command normal rather than maximal reading; 
the subjects in each case knew that they were to be tested for 
comprehension of materials read as well as for speed of reading. 
While the subjects in the present experiment were not specifically 



60 STUDY IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF READING 

directed to read either at normal or at maximal speed, it is very 
evident that they read at a normal rather than at a maximal rate. 
In fact, the conditions really implied normal reading. The reader 
was told to read rapidly for the thought; while not all adult 
subjects were given comprehension tests, they understood, never- 
theless, that they were subject to such tests. Consequently, 
meaning was emphasized rather than speed, the result being careful 
reading at normal rather than maximal rate. This accounts very 
largely for the difference in the duration of the pauses in the case 
of the two investigations. Rapid reading, as distinguished from 
normal or careful reading in the case of any one individual, appears 
to be conditioned by shorter duration of pauses rather than by a 
reduction in the number of pauses. That such is the case is 
brought out very clearly by the last four pairs of records of Plate I. 
The first record of each pair represents rapid reading and the 
second careful reading. It is very evident that the records differ 
chiefly with respect to the duration of pauses, the durations in 
the case of the first record of each pair being materially shorter 
than that of the second. It should not be inferred, however, that 
rapid readers as a class are such because of short durations rather 
than because of economy in the use of pauses. Both are important 
factors in producing speed efficiency in reading. In cases where 
a momentary increase in speed is to be effected, a reduction of the 
duration of the pauses appears to be the chief contributing factor. 
Whether this is also true in cases where the rate of reading is 
gradually increased by practice, or whether there is a corresponding 
reduction in the number of pauses going hand in hand with the 
reduction in the duration of the pauses, is an interesting question 
which is as yet unsolved. 

The fifth and eighth columns of Table XI show the correlations 
between the average duration of pauses and the average fixation 
or perception time per line. In the case of silent reading these 
are o. 552=^=0.084 for the adult group, 0.737=1=0.073 for the high- 
school pupils, and o^o^ 0.133 for the elementary pupils; in 
connection with oral reading the corresponding averages are 
0.546=*= 0.070, o. 941=*= 0.018, and o. 397 =±=0. 115, respectively. 
The correlations are quite marked in the case of the adult and the 



STATEMENT AND DISCUSSION OF RESULTS 61 

high-school groups for both types of reading, showing that there 
is a positive relationship between rank in average duration of 
pauses and rank in speed of reading. In the case of the elementary 
group this relationship is not as strongly in evidence, possibly, 
in part at least, because the duration factor does not appear to 
be as well perfected in the case of children as in the case of older 
individuals. 

4. Perception (or reading) time. — The average perception time 
per line is of course the product of the average number and the 
average duration of pauses. It is essentially the reading time 
minus the time required for interfixation and return movements. 
Since it constitutes all but a small fraction of the total reading time, 
and is further practically the only variable in reading time, the 
time consumed in movements being relatively constant, it furnishes 
a very reliable index to efficiency in the speed of reading. Columns 
13-15 of Tables III-V give the individual and group averages for 
both types of reading; Table IX shows the averages and ranges 
for the three groups. The averages for the groups are in the case 
of silent reading 2,012.4 °" for the adults, 2,229.7 a f° r the high- 
school students, and 1,972.7 a for the elementary pupils. In 
other words, the average perception time for a line of ten words 
was nearly two seconds in the case of the elementary group and 
a little over two seconds in the case of the adult and high- 
school groups. Expressed in terms of the number of words read 
per second, the results for the three groups are, respectively, 4.9, 
4.5, and 5.1 words. In the case of oral reading the perception 
times for the same groups are, respectively, 3,131.5 <r, 3,200.4 <r, 
and 3,231.5 ©■; in terms of the number of words read per second 
the results are, respectively, 3.2, 3.12, and 3.08 words. These 
results, assuming that the time consumed in movements would 
not introduce much change, agree very closely with Huey's findings. 
Twenty of his subjects, when reading at normal rate, averaged 
for silent and oral reading 5.63 and 3.55 words, respectively (10). 

On the basis of the number of words read per second the ranges 
for the adult, high-school, and elementary groups extend in the 
case of silent reading, respectively, from 8 . 68 to 2.71 words, from 
7.3 to 2.98 words, and from 8.49 to 3.34 words; and in the case 



62 STUDY IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF READING 

of oral from 5.88 to 2.46 words, from 4.24 to 2.39 words, and 
from 4.52 to 2 . 24 words, respectively. It is evident that the most 
rapid silent readers tend to read approximately three times as 
fast as the slowest, while the most rapid oral readers read twice 
as fast as the slowest. This again is in close agreement with pre- 
vious findings. Dearborn's most rapid silent readers read three 
times as fast as the slowest. Huey's twenty subjects averaged 
in normal silent reading from 2 . 5 to 9 . 8 words per second ; in oral 
reading the averages ranged from 2.2 to 4 . 7 words per second. 

5. Location of pauses. — As previously indicated, approximately 
one-half of the records were examined for the purpose of determining 
the location of pauses. Dearborn's elaborate investigation, it will 
be remembered, brought him to the conclusion that the fixation 
pause may be located "in any part of the words, or in the spacing 
between them, that it does not fall predominantly in the first part 
of the words, nor more frequently in the first part of the sentence 
than in the last," and that it "apparently pays little attention 
to many of the laws of apperception or the rules of the rhetori- 
cian." He concludes, further, that the "short connective and non- 
substantive words and the prepositional phrases and relative clauses 
make the greatest demands upon perception" — nouns, verbs, 
adjectives, familiar phrases, and rather long words requiring 
relatively slight attention. This means, of course, that the size 
of the apperceptive unit will vary in accordance with the pre- 
dominating type of words. To a certain extent the precise location 
of pauses would thus be governed by chance since the varying 
size of the apperceptive unit would place it now here and now there; 
however, Dearborn holds that this is by no means always the 
case, for the exact location may "in part depend on the more or 
less artificial peculiarities of spacing, punctuation, and the forms 
of letters in printing," and in part on the fact that "within certain 
limits the eye can regulate its positions in order to maintain its 
so-called 'short-lived motor habits'" (11). 

Charts I-III show the location of the pauses in the case of 
typical individuals from the present study. These illustrations 
include records from a rapid, a medium, and a slow reader of each 
group, both silent and oral reading being represented. Only 



STATEMENT AND DISCUSSION OF RESULTS 63 

the initial position of the pauses is indicated; the shifting of the 
fixation point in either direction was recorded in the measurements, 
but is not represented here. 

It is evident from the charts that the pauses may be located 
in almost any part of the words and even in the spaces between 
them. Location in spaces is, however, comparatively rare. In 
fact, it is much less in evidence than in the case of Dearborn's 
charts. When it does occur, it serves almost invariably a group 
of two or more words which constitute a unit of perception. Note, 
e.g., Silent, Adult No. 3 C, line 4, "even those low down"; Silent, 
Adult No. 11 C, line 6, "in the same"; Silent, High-School No. 1, 
line 1, "the stranger," and line 4, "he must"; and Silent, Elemen- 
tary No. 16, line 2, "the sons." That location in spaces should be 
rare is on the whole to be expected, since the spaces constitute a 
relatively limited portion of any given line. Pure chance would 
tend to render such location infrequent. Moreover, the printed 
word acts undoubtedly as a stimulus, and in so doing increases the 
proportion of pauses falling within the words. 

The results indicate, further, that slightly more pauses tend 
to fall within the last than within the first part of words. The 
difference is, however, in all probability too small to be of much 
significance. Of greater importance, no doubt, is the fact that 
locations near the center of words are much more common than 
those at either one of the extremes. In some cases nearly half 
of the words are thus centrally located. Note, e.g., Silent, Adult 
No. 3 C, line 6, "will deposit its dung in the same corner; the 
bird makes," and lines 7 and 8, "carries with it an insensibility to 
other opportunities and"; Silent, Adult No. 11 C, lines 6, 7, and 8, 
"its nest .... opportunities and"; Silent, Elementary No. 6, 
lines 1, 2, and 3, "There was .... have the house"; and Silent, 
Elementary No. 10, lines 1 and 2, "There was .... in which 
he." While this is particularly true in the case of rapid silent 
reading, it is more or less in evidence for most readers and for 
both types of reading. In the case of the rapid readers this 
is undoubtedly due, in part at least, to the fact that such 
readers rarely fixate words twice, the result being naturally a 
reduction in the number of end fixations. Other causes are in all 



64 STUDY IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF READING 

probability also operative. For instance, we are in the habit of 
viewing most familiar objects as units, to begin with at least. 
There are, of course, unlimited possibilities for analysis and abstrac- 
tion, but these processes require time. There is every reason to 
believe that a familiar word-form would tend to be viewed as a 
unit. In fact, the tendency to perceive or read by word wholes 
has been amply demonstrated by extensive tachistoscopic experi- 
mentation. Other things being equal, such perception would favor 
central fixation. There are, of course, many interfering factors 
which will be referred to presently. It is highly probable, too, 
that meaning would tend to condition central location of pauses, 
using the term " central" especially with reference to the apper- 
ceptive unit, whether this be one or several words. As Dodge 
points out so fittingly, the moment of actual fixation represents a 
comparatively late stage in the total reading process. The reader 
is more or less conscious of that which has gone by and of that 
which is to come. He is, as it were, being swept on by the flow of 
thought or meaning. Aided, further, by immediate context and by 
peripheral vision, he singles out significant words or phrases. 
That he should tend to fixate such units centrally is altogether in 
accordance with expectation. The attraction of phrase and word- 
form referred to above would, of course, favor this tendency. How- 
ever, as indicated, there are undoubtedly many distracting factors. 
Among these are defective motor control, as well as tendencies 
toward the formation of short-lived motor habits; peculiarities 
of word-form, unusual letter complexes, and strange word com- 
binations demanding analysis; and punctuation. The influence 
of motor factors has been amply discussed by Dearborn (12). It 
is highly probable, however, that the influence of motor habits 
is distinctly subordinate to the influence of word-form and meaning, 
especially in the case of developed or rapid reading. In the very 
nature of the case such reading must be a consciously controlled 
rather than a habitual process. Of course, habit undoubtedly 
plays its part. We may designate readers in certain cases as 
habitually slow or as habitually rapid quite irrespective of their 
intrinsic reading potentialities. However, there is every reason 
to believe that efficient reading is controlled rather by conscious 



STATEMENT AND DISCUSSION OF RESULTS 65 

ideals and consequently by discrimination, making possible constant 
adaptation to materials of varying complexity. The other inter- 
fering factors mentioned above, namely, peculiarities of word- 
form, unusual letter complexes, and strange word combinations, 
undoubtedly play a considerable part in determining precise 
locations of pauses. These peculiarities interrupt the normal flow 
of the reading process because they demand special attention and 
analysis. As a result, they not only frequently determine the 
precise location of pauses, but they increase the number of pauses 
and also lengthen their duration at times. The prevalence of 
these factors would naturally vary greatly with the complexity 
of reading materials. In the case of simple selections, such as were 
used in the present investigation, they would not be strongly in 
evidence. However, reference to the charts will show that they 
are not entirely lacking. Finally, it must be admitted that the 
demands of perception appear in many cases to be met quite as 
adequately by a fixation near either end of the apperceptive unit 
as by one centrally located. 

On the whole, the words within which the pauses fall do not 
appear to belong predominantly to any one class. This is, of 
course, particularly true in the case of the medium and the slow 
readers who average in many cases little more than one word 
per pause. This is naturally even more in evidence in the case 
of oral than in the case of silent reading. The records of adult 
individual No. 19 C represent the extreme in this case. Few words 
escape direct fixation in this instance and many of the longer 
words are fixated twice. The words which escape fixation are 
short and of the type which combine readily with others to form 
units. The records of high-school individual No. 15 and elementary 
individual No. 16 show similar tendencies. In the case of the 
more rapid readers whose averages approximate from 1.5 to 2 
words per pause there is in evidence a distinct tendency to fixate 
the longer words and to fixate these but once. This does not 
imply that no short words are fixated. Quite a number are, as 
a matter of fact. However, other things being equal, the short 
word is much more likely to escape fixation than the long. This 
is particularly true of the short word which combines readily with 



66 STUDY IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF READING 

others to form units of perception. The words thus omitted may 
belong to almost any class, the most common being pronouns, 
prepositions, short adjectives, and auxiliary verbs. 

C. COMPARISON OF GROUPS 

One of the main purposes of the present investigation was to 
characterize the reading process of individuals at various stages 
of development. Accordingly, the individuals who served as 
subjects varied greatly in age and accomplishment, ranging all 
the way from second-grade pupils to college students and professors. 
There are, to begin with, three well-defined groups, namely, adults, 
high-school students, and elementary pupils. The last two may 
be conveniently subdivided for purposes of comparison. The 
high-school group represents four distinct subgroups, one for 
each of the four classes. Similarly, the elementary group sub- 
divides itself readily into six classes, one for each of the grades 
from the second to the seventh inclusive. Table VI gives the 
totals for these groups and subgroups, and Figs, i and 2 show the 
distributions of the individuals within the groups. 

1. Number of pauses. — The three main groups approximate 
each other closely in the number of pauses which they require 
in the reading of a given length of line. This is true for both 
silent and oral reading. In the case of the former the elementary 
group represents the smallest number of pauses, the adult group 
averaging 0.2 of a pause more and the high-school group o . 7 of 
a pause more; the same relative ranking obtains in the case of 
the latter, the adult group averaging o . 1 of a pause more than the 
elementary and the high-school group 0.5 of a pause more. The 
slight excess of the high-school group is to be accounted for, as 
previously indicated, by the fact that the selections read by this 
group made relatively more demands upon the group than did the 
other selections upon the other groups. The close approximation 
of the three groups is, to say the least, very striking. It shows 
very clearly that individuals, after having once mastered the tech- 
nique of reading, tend on an average to require about the same 
number of pauses in reading a given length of line quite irrespective 
of age and accomplishment, provided, of course, that the reading 
material falls within the range of their comprehension. This, 



STATEMENT AND DISCUSSION OF RESULTS 67 

however, does not in any way preclude the prevalence of marked 
individual variation. 

An examination of the subgroups in the case of the elementary 
and high-school groups shows very clearly that the factor to be 
reckoned with is individual variation rather than variation due 
to age and accomplishment. In the case of silent reading there is 
no correlation whatever between grade rank and efficiency in the 
use of pauses. The second, fourth, and seventh grades require the 
least number of pauses, while the sixth, fifth, and third require 
the largest number. The same thing is true for the high-school 
group, the Juniors and Sophomores showing the lowest averages 
and the Seniors and Freshmen the highest. Practically the same 
situation obtains in the case of the oral reading. The seventh 
and fourth grades represent the least number of pauses and the 
fifth, sixth, second, and third the largest number. In the case 
of the high-school group the Sophomores require the least number 
of pauses and the Seniors the largest. The fact that marked 
individual variation prevails is further emphasized by Figs. 1 and 
2, which show the distributions of the individuals within the groups, 
the former for silent and the latter for oral reading. The Roman 
numerals indicate the positions of the individuals of the high-school 
group, I standing for Freshmen, II for Sophomores, III for Juniors, 
and IV for Seniors. The Arabic numerals 2-7 indicate the positions 
of the pupils of Grades 2-7 inclusive. In neither case is there any 
evidence of a general age or grade tendency. 

One characteristic, however, demands our attention. The 
exceptionally high averages of the second and third grades in the 
case of oral reading are in all probability quite significant, especially 
when we take into consideration the fact that the second grade 
required the least number of pauses in silent reading. While the 
number of subjects representing these two grades is too small 
to warrant definite conclusions, the results tend, nevertheless, to 
show pretty clearly that this stage represents a period in individual 
development when the mechanism which controls the complex 
process of oral reading has not, as yet, been fully established. 
The fact that these two grades differ, on the other hand, so radically 
in the number of pauses which they require for silent reading leads 
to the suspicion that the mechanism which controls silent reading 



68 STUDY IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF READING 

may likewise be, as yet, very loosely established in the case of 
some individuals of this period, even though it is in the case of 
other individuals thoroughly perfected. In other words, it is 
highly probable that this period represents a more or less critical 
transition stage in the mastery of the reading process, a stage 
during which the individual succeeds gradually in passing from slow 
word-reading to more rapid thought-getting as far as silent reading 
is concerned, and a stage during which the individual gradually 
gains control of the exceedingly complex mechanism of oral reading. 
It is highly probable that the appearance and duration of this 
transition stage may vary materially with individuals, being 
completed in some cases before the second grade, and continuing 
in others beyond the third grade. 

2. Duration of pauses. — The three main groups approximate 
each other quite as closely in the duration of reading pauses as 
they did in their number. The advantage lies, however, in this 
case with the adult and high-school groups rather than the elemen- 
tary group. The durations of the several subgroups vary quite a 
little in some instances, but these variations, as in the case of the 
number of pauses, do not appear to be correlated with age or grade 
rank. The distributions of the individuals within the groups, as 
shown in Figs. 3 and 4, confirm this conclusion. The most sig- 
nificant difference brought out by these comparisons is the fact 
that the elementary group requires longer pauses for both types 
of reading than does the adult group. This reverses the relation- 
ship which obtained in the case of the number of pauses. All in 
all, the facts in the case point rather strongly to the conclusion that 
the processes of adjustment involved in fixation have not been as 
thoroughly perfected in the case of children as in the case of adults. 

3. Perception {or reading) time. — Since the main groups approx- 
imate each other so closely with respect to both the number and 
the duration of pauses, there is necessarily but little variation in 
their perception-time averages. The adult group occupies second 
rank in silent reading and first in oral; the elementary group, 
first in silent and third in oral; and the high-school group, third 
in silent and second in oral. The difference between the perception 
times of the elementary and adult groups is too small to be sig- 



STATEMENT AND DISCUSSION OF RESULTS 69 

nificant. In the case of the high-school group the difference is 
more marked, but not significantly so, since the selection read 
made somewhat heavier demands upon the readers. On the 
other hand, the fact that the elementary group ranks first in silent 
and only third in oral reading points to the conclusion that children 
have not mastered the technique of oral reading as well as that of 
silent. 

Since there appeared to be no correlation between age and grade 
rank on the one hand and the number and duration of pauses 
on the other, there is naturally no correlation in evidence between 
age and grade rank and perception time. Table VI illustrates 
this very clearly. In the case of the elementary group Grades 
7,2, and 4 occupy the highest ranks in the perception time of silent 
reading, while Grades 7 and 4 occupy a similar rank in the percep- 
tion time of oral reading. In the case of the high-school group 
the Seniors and the Freshmen represent the longest duration times 
for silent reading and the Juniors and Freshmen for oral reading. 
Correlation with age and grade rank is thus as little in evidence in 
the case of perception time as it is in the case of the number and 
the duration of pauses. This fact, coupled with the further fact 
that the perception-time averages of the three groups approximate 
each other very closely, shows pretty definitely that efficiency 
in speed of reading must be accounted for on the basis of other 
factors than age or grade rank. While the number of children 
representing each of the several grades is of course too small to 
warrant final conclusions, the results indicate, nevertheless, rather 
clearly that age has very little to do with the speed of reading, even 
in the case of children, after they have once passed the transition 
stage and have mastered the technique of reading, provided the 
reading materials fall within the range of their comprehension. 
This at once raises the question: To what extent do the results 
of recent tests of the speed of reading support this conclusion ? 

Unfortunately these investigations were made under very dif- 
ferent conditions, so that the results vary materially in some 
instances. However, general tendencies are in evidence. Starch 
computed, on the basis of the results obtained from tests given to 
several thousand pupils, standard scores of efficiency for each grade. 



70 STUDY IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF READING 

In terms of the number of words read per second these scores are : 
first grade, 1.5 words; second grade, 1.8 words; third grade, 2.1 
words; fourth grade, 2.4 words; fifth grade, 2.8 words; sixth 
grade, 3.2 words; seventh grade, 3.6 words; eighth grade, 4.0 
words (13). Oberholtzer, who tested approximately 1,800 children, 
quotes the following averages: third grade, 2.3 words; fourth 
grade, 2.6 words; fifth grade, 3. 1 words; sixth grade, 3.9 words; 
seventh grade, 4.7 words; eighth grade, 4.8 words. His con- 
clusion is that " there seems to be a definite correlation of the rate 
of reading among the grades, the rate of silent reading increasing 
most rapidly as the grade is advanced" (14). The results of tests 
which the writer recently gave to approximately 800 children in 
the Norman (Oklahoma) schools are as follows : third grade, 2 . 2 
words; fourth grade, 2.6 words; fifth grade, 3.6 words; sixth 
grade, 3.9 words; seventh grade, 4.1 words; eighth grade, 4.4 
words. Courtis, upon testing the speed of normal silent reading 
of 1,469 individuals ranging from fourth-grade pupils to adults, 
quotes approximately the following median scores: fourth grade, 
2 . 6 words; fifth grade, 3 . o words; sixth grade, 3 . 7 words; seventh 
grade, 4 . 2 words ; eighth grade, 4.3 words; adults, 5.3 words (15). 
The results of the foregoing tests show practically without exception 
a strong tendency toward correlation between age and grade rank 
and speed of reading, and so stand apparently in opposition to the 
tendency supported by the results of the present investigation. 

The results of several other investigations point, however, in 
quite a different direction. Waldo, who made extensive tests in 
the Sycamore (Illinois) schools, found but little increase in the 
reading rate after the fifth grade; there was, however, a progressive 
increase with the grades in the quality of comprehension (16). 
The results of tests given by the writer to the pupils of the Elemen- 
tary School of the University of Chicago show that the average of 
the seventh grade surpasses that of the fourth grade by only o. 23 
word per second. Courtis, who gave tests for careful silent reading 
to 1,478 individuals ranging from fourth-grade pupils to adults, 
found the following median scores: fourth grade, 1.7 words; 
fifth grade, 2.2 words; sixth grade, 2.9 words; seventh grade, 
3.0 words; eighth grade, 3.3 words; adults, 3 . o words. Careful 



STATEMENT AND DISCUSSION OF RESULTS 71 

reading differed from normal reading chiefly by the fact that it 
was followed by tests for comprehension. Accordingly, Courtis' 
conclusion is that the normal reading rate continues to increase 
until the high-school years, but that the rate of careful reading is 
practically constant from the sixth grade on (17). The results 
of extensive tests recently given by Gray to 1,831 pupils in the 
Cleveland schools and to 2,654 pupils in thirteen other cities show 
the same general tendency. The Cleveland pupils show in the 
case of silent reading very rapid improvement from the second 
to the fourth grades, the score of the former being nearly 2 . o words 
and that of the latter about 3 . 6 words. From the fourth to the 
eighth grades the improvement is very slow, amounting to only 
about 0.6 of a word. The pupils from the thirteen other cities 
likewise show very rapid improvement from the second to the 
fourth grade, the score of the former being about 1 . 6 words and 
that of the latter 3 . o words. From this point on improvement in 
speed is comparatively slow, the eighth grade exceeding the fourth 
by only 1.0 word. The results of the careful comprehension 
tests, which accompanied the tests for rate of reading, show that 
comprehension tends to improve much more gradually and con- 
tinuously (18). It is quite evident that the results of the studies 
which have just been enumerated are in rather close agreement 
with the results of the present investigation. In other words, the 
results support the conclusion that the speed of reading, under 
certain circumstances at least, does not vary materially after the 
individual has passed the critical transition stage and has thoroughly 
mastered the technique of reading. 

Our next problem is to determine the conditions which account 
for the difference in the results in the case of the two groups of 
studies referred to above. The question which we are facing is 
this : How did the conditions under which the two sets of investiga- 
tions were carried on differ ? In the case of Courtis' experiments 
the only difference in conditions appears to have been the fact 
that the tests for careful reading were accompanied by rather rigid 
tests for comprehension, while those for normal reading were not, 
the subjects being merely asked to read understandingly. The 
results for the two sets of tests show clearly that careful reading 



72 STUDY IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF READING 

involved the subordination of speed to meaning. All the other 
tests, which were discussed in connection with the second group 
above, were accompanied by rather rigid tests for comprehension, 
in consequence of which the reading might be classified as careful 
reading. However, at least a part of the studies classified under 
the first group were also accompanied by comprehension tests, 
especially those given by Starch. And in any event the scores 
obtained through the two sets of studies, especially in the case 
of the upper grades, do not warrant the unconditioned classification 
of the former with Courtis' "normal" type and the latter with his 
"careful" type. There must then be other conditions which 
differentiate the two groups of studies. At least two of these 
appear significant. To begin with, a special effort was made in 
almost every instance in connection with the second group of 
studies to select such reading materials as would fall unquestion- 
ably within the range of the comprehension of the several classes 
of subjects. In the second place, the selections were printed with 
uniform type and length of line. These conditions do not appear 
to have been as uniform in connection with the first group of tests, 
the pupils in many instances reading from supposedly graded 
readers which represented, to say the least, very varying physical 
conditions. 

It would appear, then, that uniformity in the speed of reading 
is most likely to appear in cases where speed is somewhat sub- 
ordinated to comprehension, where the reading materials are 
carefully graded so as to fall within easy range of the compre- 
hension of the individuals to be tested, and where physical condi- 
tions are as uniform as possible. These facts, together with those 
available from the present investigation, do not, however, afford 
a final and unconditioned answer to the question whether elemen- 
tary pupils, after once having passed the transition stage and after 
having thoroughly mastered the technique of reading, are able 
on an average under suitable conditions to read as rapidly as 
adults. They point strongly toward such a conclusion, however; 
and, to say the least, they show very clearly that elementary 
pupils are capable of reading much more rapidly silently than 
has formerly been supposed. Further carefully controlled experi- 



STATEMENT AND DISCUSSION OF RESULTS 73 

mentation will of course throw much more light on this important 
problem. 

4. Refixations. — The prevalence of refixations appears to be 
pretty definitely correlated with age, the number decreasing 
progressively with the increase in the age of the groups. Accord- 
ingly, the elementary group represents the largest number and the 
adult group the smallest. The same tendency is also more or less 
in evidence in the case of the subgroups. There are, however, 
in evidence striking exceptions. In the case of the silent reading 
of the elementary group, for instance, the second-grade pupils 
show the least number of refixations. In the case of the oral 
reading, on the other hand, the second- and third-grade pupils 
represent the largest numbers. In the high-school group the 
Seniors represent more refixations than the Juniors and the Soph- 
omores more than the Freshmen. All in all, then, individual 
variation is strongly in evidence, even in the presence of larger 
general tendencies. 

5. Average deviations. — Marked average deviations in con- 
nection with any of the factors discussed heretofore indicate the 
absence of well-defined habits making for uniformity. Their 
prevalence, as in the case of the refixations, appears to be rather 
closely correlated with the age of the groups, the elementary group 
showing the largest number and the adult group the smallest. The 
same general tendency is in evidence in the case of the subgroups, 
though there are important exceptions. A considerable degree 
of correlation exists between refixations and deviations, showing 
that the two types of irregularity are conditioned, to a certain 
extent at least, by common factors. These irregularities appear, 
further, to be pretty closely correlated with the rate of reading, the 
rapid readers as a class representing the smallest amount and the 
slow readers the largest amount of irregularity. Dearborn observed 
similar tendencies (19). 

6. Comprehension. — The last two columns of Tables IV and V 
give the data for the comprehension tests. The averages for the 
high-school group are considerably lower than those for the elemen- 
tary group. This is in all probability due to differences in the selec- 
tions, the selection read by the former being largely descriptive, 



74 STUDY IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF READING 

while that read by the latter was narrative. Although the two 
sets of questions were seemingly nearly alike in their requirements, 
it was quite evident that pupils found it more difficult to answer 
questions based upon description than those based upon narration. 
Several students stated after answering the questions that it was 
very difficult in answering descriptive questions to distinguish 
between fact and fiction. It is not probable, therefore, that the 
differences between the two groups ought to be regarded as sig- 
nificant. 

The correlation between reading rate and comprehension is 
not strong. There are in evidence, however, tendencies, some of 
which at least may be significant. In the case of the silent reading 
the rapid readers represent on an average a higher degree of com- 
prehension than do the slow. In the case of the silent reading of 
the elementary group 'the ten most rapid readers average 83 per cent 
in comprehension, while the ten slowest average 77 per cent; in 
the case of the silent reading of the high-school group the eight 
most rapid readers average 72 per cent in comprehension and the 
eight slowest 68 per cent. While these tendencies are not partic- 
ularly marked, they nevertheless point toward the conclusion that 
there is a positive correlation between rate and comprehension 
in the case of silent reading. That rapid silent readers tend to 
surpass the slow in comprehension has been repeatedly shown. In 
the case of Gray's recent investigation in Cleveland 10 per cent 
of the individuals show rapid speed and good quality of com- 
prehension, while only 4 per cent show rapid speed and poor 
quality; on the other hand, only 4 per cent show slow speed 
and good quality, while 9 per cent show slow speed and poor 
quality (20). 

In the case of the oral reading the results would seem to be 
reversed, though perhaps not with sufficient force to be significant. 
The ten most rapid oral readers of the elementary group average 
84 per cent in comprehension, while the ten slowest average 87 
per cent; in the case of the high-school group the eight most rapid 
readers average 59 per cent and the eight slowest 60 per cent. As 
stated above, these differences are too slight to warrant definite 
conclusions, but, such as they are, they at least suggest the pos- 



STATEMENT AND DISCUSSION OF RESULTS 75 

sibility that rapid oral reading may not be compatible with a good 
quality of comprehension. 

D. COMPARISON OF SILENT AND ORAL READING 

Another important aim of the present investigation was to 
make a careful comparison of silent and oral reading. Accordingly, 
the data for silent reading are throughout paralleled with data 
for oral reading. Tables III, IV, and V give the complete data 
for the two types of reading, the arrangement being such that the 
comparisons can readily be made. Figs. 1 and 2 show the dis- 
tributions on the basis of the number of pauses for silent and oral 
reading, respectively; Figs. 3 and 4 show the distributions on the 
basis of the duration of pauses for silent and oral reading, respec- 
tively; and Fig. 5 shows the distributions on the basis of the 
perception time for the two types of reading. 

1. Number of pauses. — The averages of the groups show that 
oral reading requires on the whole from 1 . 6 to 1 . 8 pauses in excess 
of silent reading. In other words, oral reading necessitates in 
this respect an excess expenditure of 24-28 . 5 per cent. An exam- 
ination of the data for the subjects composing the groups shows 
great individual variation. The differences in the number of 
pauses in the case of the two types of reading vary for the adult 
group all the way from o to 4. 1, for the high-school students from 
—0.8 to 3.0, and for the elementary pupils from o to 4.1. That 
silent reading offers possibilities for great economy in the use of 
pauses is obvious, but it is quite evident that many individuals 
fail to realize this advantage. It should be noted, however, that 
large differences in the number of pauses in the case of the two 
types of reading do not necessarily indicate efficiency. They 
may be due to the use of an excessively large number of pauses 
in connection with oral reading. Compare in this connection, 
for instance, adult individuals Nos. 4, 5, and 6 with adult individ- 
uals Nos. 1, 3, and 7. Both groups show great efficiency in the use 
of pauses in connection with silent reading. The former show 
large differences between the number of pauses in silent and oral 
reading, while the latter show only slight differences. An examina- 
tion of the data shows very clearly that the large differences in the 



76 STUDY IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF READING 

case of the former are due to the fact that these subjects make 
unusually heavy demands upon the number of pauses in connection 
with oral reading. On the whole, however, it will be observed 
that large differences between the number of pauses in silent and 
oral reading are rather characteristic of rapid readers. 

2. Duration of pauses. — The advantages of silent reading are 
quite as much in evidence in the case of the duration of pauses 
as in the case of their number. The comparisons in Tables III, 
IV, and V show that the durations for the groups average from 
62.3 to 84.7 <r higher in oral than in silent reading. In other 
words, there is in oral reading an excess expenditure in the duration 
of pauses varying from 20 to 27 per cent. For the individuals 
composing the groups the range of differences is of course much 
wider, varying in the case of the adults from —50 to 170 <r, in the 
case of the high-school students from —34 to 238 a, and in the case 
of the elementary pupils from —52 to 208 <x. Large differences, 
however, as in the case of the number of pauses, are not necessarily 
indicative of economy in connection with fixation time. They 
may be due to exceptionally long duration times in connection 
with oral reading. Such appears to be the case, for instance, 
with adult individual No. 15, high-school individual No. 7, and 
elementary individuals Nos. 2, 10, and 12. On the whole, large 
differences between the number of pauses in silent and oral reading 
are rather characteristic of rapid readers. 

It is rather difficult to account for the negative cases — the 
cases in which the duration of the pauses in silent reading exceeds 
the duration of the pauses for oral reading. These cases constitute 
about 10 per cent of the total. They are rather equally distributed 
among both fast and slow readers. 

3. Perception {or reading) time. — The average perception time per 
line is the product of the average number and the average duration 
of the pauses. It constitutes the total reading time exclusive of 
the time required for the interfixation movements and the return 
sweep. Since the time required for these movements is very 
short and rather constant, the average perception time per line 
may be regarded as a comparatively reliable index to speed effi- 
ciency. Tables III, IV, and V show that the perception time 



STATEMENT AND DISCUSSION OF RESULTS 77 

averages for the several groups are from 9 70. 7 to 1,258. 80- higher 
in the case of oral than in the case of silent reading. The oral 
reading requires on an average from 44 to 64 per cent more per- 
ception time than does the silent. Individual variations are, of 
course, much more marked. In the case of the adult group the 
differences in the perception time for the two types of reading 
vary from — 117.0 to 2,120.8 a; in the case of the high-school 
group from 36.8 to 2,316.4 a; and in the case of the elementary 
group from 311 . 6 to 2,937 . 2 a. Some individuals read practically 
three times as fast silently as orally. Note, for instance, adult indi- 
vidual No. 4, high-school individual No. 1, and elementary indi- 
viduals Nos. 2 and 5. On the other extreme, one individual actually 
requires more time in silent than in oral reading. 

On the basis of the number of words perceived or read per 
second the individuals included in the three groups ranged in the 
case of silent reading from 8.68 to 2.71 words, the average being 
4. 98 words; in the case of oral reading the same individuals ranged 
from 5 . 88 to 2 . 24 words, the average being 3.21 words. The most 
rapid silent reader reads thus a little more than three times as 
fast as the slowest, while the most rapid oral reader reads a little 
more than twice as fast as the slowest. These proportions are 
in close agreement with the results of other investigations carried 
on under similar conditions. Dearborn's most rapid silent 
readers read three times as fast as the slowest. Huey's twenty 
subjects averaged in normal silent reading from 2.5 to 9.8 words 
per second and in oral reading from 2.2 to 4.7 words per second. 
More extended recent investigations show very definitely that 
the range of individual variation in the case of silent reading is 
in reality even more marked than the foregoing figures might 
indicate. The results of tests recently given in Cleveland, Ohio, 
show very clearly that the range in silent reading may frequently 
be more than twice that of oral reading (21). When the individual 
scores are reduced to group averages, the ratios of such averages 
in the case of silent and oral reading do not appear to vary mate- 
rially from the corresponding ratios in the case of the present 
study. The Cleveland pupils of Grades 2-8 averaged 1 5 . 1 lines 
per minute for oral reading and 20.7 lines per minute for silent 



78 STUDY IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF READING 

reading, while the 83 individuals of the present investigation aver- 
aged in the case of oral reading 3.21 words per second and in the 
case of silent reading 4.98 words. It is highly probable that the 
somewhat more limited range of individual variation, evident in 
connection with the silent reading of this study, is due to the 
experimental conditions. Moreover, the reading was distinctly 
of the careful type, speed being subordinated to meaning. This, 
as was evidenced by Courtis' results, tends to lessen the range. 
In any event, the advantages of silent reading as compared with 
oral are clearly in evidence. Fig. 5, which shows a comparison 
of the distributions on the basis of the perception time for the 
two types of reading, brings this out very forcefully. It is very 
probable, however, that the differences should be much more 
marked, especially in the case of trained adults. 

4. Refixations . — It will be observed that refixations are prac- 
tically without exception much more in evidence in the case of 
oral than in the case of silent reading. This is due in part to the 
fact that the number of fixation pauses is greater in oral than in 
silent reading and in part to the fact that the eye is often far in 
advance of the voice, and as a result is forced at times to return 
for purposes of orientation. 

E. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION 

The fixation pause comprises, as we have seen, all but a very 
small fraction of the total reading time. It is the only period of 
significant stimulation. Whatever indirect vision may be pres- 
ent during rapid eye-movement, such as the return sweep and 
interfixation movements, serves largely purposes of orientation. 
Accordingly, our interest has centered first of all about the pause, 
its nature, number, duration, and location, as well as about total 
perception or reading time. 

The pause involves both central and peripheral vision, the 
latter conditioning a significant preliminary survey, while the 
former serves to "correct, to confirm, and to intensify" the more 
or less shadowy impressions coming through the medium of periph- 
eral vision. On the physical side the pause involves elaborate 
motor adjustments which condition the perceptual and assimilative 
processes. 



STATEMENT AND DISCUSSION OF RESULTS 79 

In number the pauses vary for the individuals of all groups, 
in the case of silent reading from 4.1 to 10.8 per line (90 mm.) 
and in the case of oral reading from 6.1 to 1 1 . 5 per line. The 
corresponding average number of words perceived per pause 
ranges for silent reading from 2.15 to 0.93 and for the oral from 
1.62 to 0.86. In the case of the groups the number of pauses is 
6 . 5 for adults, 7 . o for high-school students, and 6 . 3 for the elemen- 
tary pupils in silent reading, and in the oral, 8.2, 8.6, and 8.1, 
respectively. The corresponding figures for the number of words 
perceived per pause are in the case of silent reading 1 . 54, 1 . 43, and 
1 . 59, respectively, and in the case of the oral 1.22, 1 . 16, and 1 . 23, 
respectively. All these figures show, of course, that the number 
of pauses is subject to great individual variation. Oral reading 
makes heavier demands upon the number of pauses than the silent, 
requiring an excess expenditure of from 26 to 28 per cent. The 
correlation between the average number of pauses per line and 
the total perception time per line is quite marked, showing that 
the number of pauses is an important factor in determining an 
individual's rate of reading. In spite of this it does not appear, 
however, that a momentary increase in the speed of reading is 
accompanied by a noticeable decrease in the number of pauses. 
To what extent a permanent increase in the rate of reading brought 
about by persistent practice would involve a reduction in the 
number of pauses is an interesting, but as yet unsolved, problem. 

The durations of the pauses vary on an average in the case of 
all the subjects from 214 to 470 a for silent reading and from 230 
to 520 <r for oral reading. In the case of the groups the average 
duration of the pauses is 308 . 2 a for the adults, 3 1 1 . 1 a for the 
high-school students, and 314 a for the elementary pupils in silent 
reading, and in the oral, 380.8, 372.9, and 398 a, respectively. 
These durations are somewhat higher than those of previous 
experimenters, because the reading was in this case of the careful 
rather than the rapid or maximal type. A momentary increase 
in the speed of reading is clearly conditioned by a reduction in the 
duration of pauses. The same thing is undoubtedly true in the 
case of a permanent improvement in the rate of reading, though 
this has not as yet been experimentally demonstrated. While 
there is fairly marked correlation between the average duration 



80 STUDY IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF READING 

of pauses per line and the total perception time per line, a short 
duration of pauses does not in nearly all cases imply a rapid reader. 
It is quite probable, however, that the speed of reading could in 
the case of these exceptions be materially improved by consciously 
directed practice resulting in a reduction in the duration of pauses. 

A study of the location of fixation pauses has shown that there 
is in evidence at least a tendency toward fixating apperceptive 
units centrally. In part this is undoubtedly due to the fact that 
we are in the habit of viewing most objects as units to start with. 
The tendency toward central location is conditioned and facilitated, 
on the one hand, by contributions from peripheral vision and from 
the context, and interfered with, on the other hand, by a variety 
of factors, such as defective motor control, tendencies toward the 
formation of short-lived motor habits, and objective peculiarities 
demanding analysis. Generally speaking, the words within which 
the pauses fall do not appear to belong prevailingly to any one 
class, nor to a specific group of classes. In the case of the slow 
readers especially such a selection would be almost a physical 
impossibility, since most words are fixated at least once. In the 
case of average and rapid readers many words are bound to escape 
fixation. These appear to be most frequently short words which 
combine readily with others to form apperceptive units, the most 
common of these being pronouns, prepositions, short adjectives, 
and auxiliary verbs. There are, however, in evidence numerous 
exceptions to the tendencies which have been pointed out, and 
when all is said and done, it must be admitted that the demands 
of perception appear in many cases to be met quite as adequately 
by fixation near either end of the apperceptive unit as by one 
centrally located. 

The total perception time per line varies in the case of the 
silent reading from 1,140 to 3,684.8 a, and in the case of the oral 
from 1,702 to 4,454 a. In terms of the number of words read 
per second the figures range for silent reading from 8.68 to 2.71 
words and for oral reading from 5 . 88 to 2.24 words. The per- 
ception time averages for the three groups are in the case of silent 
reading, 2,012.4 a for the adults, 2,229.7 a for the high-school 
students, and 1,972.7 a for the elementary pupils. In the case 



STATEMENT AND DISCUSSION OF RESULTS 81 

of oral reading the corresponding figures are 3,131.5 a, 3,200.4 <x, 
and 3,231.5 a, respectively. In terms of the number of words 
read per second the corresponding figures are in the case of silent 
reading, 4.9, 4.5, and 5.1 words, respectively, and in the case 
of the oral, 3.2, 3.12, and 3.08 words, respectively. The most 
rapid silent readers tend thus to read a little more than three 
times as fast as the slowest and the most rapid oral readers a little 
more than twice as fast as the slowest. 

A comparison of the reading of the several groups has brought 
out few significant differences. The number of pauses is uniform. 
The duration of the pauses is nearly as uniform, though there is 
in evidence a tendency for the children to represent slightly longer 
duration times, in all probability because the processes of adjust- 
ment involved in fixation may not have been as thoroughly per- 
fected in the case of children as in the case of adults. The 
perception time or reading rate is also practically the same for 
the three groups. Other studies involving careful reading show 
similar results in this respect. The facts in the case point strongly 
toward the conclusion that the rate of reading tends to be rather 
uniform in the case of individuals after they have once passed the 
critical transition stage and have mastered the mechanics of reading, 
provided that speed be somewhat subordinated to meaning or 
comprehension, that the reading materials be carefully graded 
so as to fall within easy range of the comprehension of the individ- 
uals to be tested, and that physical conditions be as uniform as 
possible. The most marked difference between the groups is in 
evidence in the case of the irregularities, refixations being much 
more common, and average deviations being often materially 
larger in the case of children than in the case of adults. 

A comparison of the individuals comprising the several groups 
shows, on the other hand, that there is almost no limit to individual 
variation. Other recent studies, especially those concerned with 
the rate of reading and with comprehension, show similar tendencies. 
While both of these factors, reading rate and comprehension, 
appear to be somewhat correlated with scholarship as shown by 
student grades, there is, as we have seen, practically no correlation 
between reading rate and age and grade rank, at least beyond a 



82 STUDY IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF READING 

certain point. A second-grade pupil may actually read more 
rapidly than an eighth-grade pupil, a high-school student, or an 
adult of considerable accomplishment. In fact, such cases are 
quite common. This whole situation shows very clearly that 
reading ability is quite as much a variable factor as are mathe- 
matical, language, and other abilities. The reading rate of slow 
readers — and all others, of course — may no doubt be materially 
improved by persistent training and practice. To what extent 
this is possible and desirable will have to be determined experi- 
mentally. In fact, standards are very rapidly being developed 
even now. One thing is very certain, and that is that it will be 
quite futile to attempt to reduce all to the same level; individual 
ability will have to be respected here as much as elsewhere. 

The differences between the results of silent and oral reading 
are not as marked as might be expected. On an average the 
subjects of the present experiment read 57 per cent more material 
silently than they did orally in a given time. Individual variation 
is, however, much more marked, some individuals reading three 
times as fast silently as orally, and one actually requiring more time 
for silent than for oral reading. Other studies show even less 
marked differences. The Cleveland pupils read 37 per cent more 
silently than orally, and Oberholtzer's study shows an excess of 
approximately 30 per cent. These differences are, however, more 
significant than might appear at first sight. They show that the 
rate of silent reading is materially higher than that of oral reading, 
even under ordinary conditions, when no special effort is made to 
distinguish between the two, and in the case of individuals who 
have been trained almost exclusively in oral reading. The very 
marked differences which are in evidence in the case of some 
individuals indicate very clearly that it is possible to make much 
greater distinctions between the two types of reading than are 
ordinarily made. The rate of oral reading, although subject to 
considerable variation, is confined within relatively narrow limits 
because of its dependence upon the physiological mechanism 
involved in vocalization. Silent reading, on the other hand, is 
much more independent of physiological factors, though by no 
means entirely so, since the great majority of readers are dependent 



STATEMENT AND DISCUSSION OF RESULTS 83 

upon the so-called inner speech of reading. This involves, of 
course, auditory and motor elements, the one predominating in 
some cases and the other in others. This inner speech is subject 
to very varying degrees of abbreviation, the degree being largely 
determined by a subject's dominant mode of imaging. In the 
case of the visual type the inner speech is reduced to a minimum, 
though it is probably rarely entirely absent. Individuals of this 
type are by nature rapid readers, other conditions being equal. 
Their speed is not due to scanning, however, for they have no 
occasion to resort to this, since there is almost no limit to the rate 
of visualization. The motor type, on the other hand, tends to 
represent the slowest readers, the dependence upon the physiological 
mechanism being in this case quite marked. The auditory type 
ranges between the two, the hearing of the words being in this 
case often quite vestigial. This type appears to be much more 
common than either of the other two types. Most of the evidence 
which the writer has been able to gather through interviews with 
a large number of individuals seems to support the conclusion 
that the auditory-motor type of reader can compete with the 
visual only when he is able to resort to scanning. There can be 
little doubt that rapid readers fall almost exclusively into these 
two classes — those, on the one hand, who are good visualizers, and 
those, on the other hand, who have acquired the ability to gather 
meaning from the printed page without definitely reading all words 
and sentences. This does not imply, of course, that the rate of 
reading may not be improved somewhat by lessening the number 
of pauses, and especially by reducing their duration; but such 
improvement is severely limited when compared with the results 
of scanning. It is quite possible, too, that if the training in oral 
reading were discontinued at an early stage and training in rapid 
silent reading were stressed, the tendencies toward inner speech 
might be greatly reduced and visualization cultivated, at least 
in part. As a matter of fact, we appear to have the ability to 
take in all kinds of situations visually without speech accompani- 
ments. This is true even in the case of the interpretation of many 
printed symbols. The problem is one which will have to be 
worked out experimentally. In any event, whether improvement 



84 STUDY IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF READING 

in the rate of reading is to come chiefly by resorting to scanning, 
or whether it is to come through training in visualization, it is 
very evident that the teaching of reading demands expert knowledge 
and skill in place of the present haphazard and empirical type of 
procedure. 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES 

i. Dodge, R. "Psychology of Reading," Monroe's Encyclopedia of Educa- 
tion; also, "An Experimental Study of Visual Fixation," Psychological 
Review, Monograph Supplements, Vol. VIII, No. 4 (1907). 

2. Dearborn, W. F. Psychology of Reading, pp. 53, 63 ff. 

3. Huey, E. B. " Psychology and Physiology of Reading," American Journal 
of Psychology, XL 

4. Dodge, R. (See reference 1 above.) 

5. Dearborn, W. F. Psychology of Reading, pp. 25 and 60. 

6. Quantz, J. O. (See reference 56, chap, ii.) 

7. Huey, E. B. Psychology and Pedagogy of Reading, pp. 174-75. 

8. Starch, D. (See reference 61, chap, ii.) 

9. Oberholtzer, E. E. (See reference 60, chap, ii.) 

10. Huey, E. B. (See reference 7 above.) 

11. Dearborn, W. F. Psychology of Reading, pp. 29 ff. 

12. Ibid. 

13. Starch, D. (See reference 61, chap, ii.) 

14. Oberholtzer, E. E. (See reference 60, chap, ii.) 

15. Courtis, S. A. (See reference 62, chap, ii.) Also, The Fourteenth Year- 
book of the National Society for the Study of Education. 

16. Waldo, K. D. (See reference 59, chap, ii.) 

17. Courtis, S. A. (See reference 15 above.) 

18. Judd, C. H. "Measuring the Results of the Public Schools," Cleveland 
Educational Survey, chap. vii. 

19. Dearborn, W. F. (See reference 12 above, especially p. 30.) 

20. Judd, C. H. (See reference 18, pp. 153-56, above.) 

21. Ibid. 



PLATE I 




1234567 8 9 10 11 i2 13 



CHAPTER V 
THE MOTOR BEHAVIOR OF THE EYE IN READING 

A. MOVEMENT IN THE HORIZONTAL PLANE 

i. Description of records and plates. — As previously indicated, 
the film running in the vertical plane recorded head- and eye- 
movement in the horizontal plane. The records for movement in 
this plane represent for each fixation pause a nearly vertical line 
of dots and spaces; for each interfixation movement a line con- 
sisting of one or two slightly extended dots and spaces running 
somewhat diagonally to the right; for each refixation movement a 
similar line running to the left ; for the return sweep a much longer 
but also slightly diagonal line running to the left, the line con- 
sisting in this case of more extended dots and spaces, the number 
varying all the way from one dot and two spaces or two dots 
and one space to two dots and three spaces; for head- and eye- 
movements a variety of deviations and irregularities affecting both 
directions. Movements in the vertical plane are indicated on 
these records in a general way by an alternate spreading and crowd- 
ing of the dots. Since the printing of the films does not correct 
the perversion caused by the motion of the films, an upward 
movement is roughly indicated by a crowding and shortening of 
the dots and a downward movement by a spreading and lengthen- 
ing of the dots. Some of the crowding and spreading may, however, 
be due to slight changes in the running speed of the films. The 
varying widths of the records for movement in the horizontal 
plane are due largely to the fact that the distances between the 
eyes and the film varied with different individuals. 

Plates I-IV inclusive represent a variety of records for move- 
ment in the horizontal plane. The first record of Plate I is a 
record of light reflected from a polished bead fastened to the 
apparatus; it is intended to detect possible vibrations of the 
apparatus in the horizontal plane. The second and fourth records 
are records for head-movement in the horizontal plane, the former 

85 



86 STUDY IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF READING 

for silent and the latter for oral reading; they are records of light 
reflected from a polished bead fastened to a pair of spectacle rims 
worn by the reader. The third and fifth records are the corre- 
sponding records for head- and eye-movement combined. A 
comparison of these two types of records makes possible the 
isolation and characterization of eye-movement alone. The 
remaining eight records make possible a comparison of silent 
reading at maximal and at normal rates, the records of four rapid 
readers being represented; records 6, 8, io, and 12 represent the 
maximal and records 7, 9, n, and 13 the normal rate. 

Plate II shows typical records from the reading of children for 
both silent and oral reading, the second and third grades being 
represented by two individuals each and grades 4-7 inclusive 
by one individual each. Accordingly, records 1 and 3 represent 
the silent and records 2 and 4 the oral reading of second-grade 
pupils — elementary individuals Nos. 2 and 12; records 5 and 7 
represent the silent and records 6 and 8 the oral reading of third- 
grade pupils — elementary individuals Nos. 20 and 21; record 9 
the silent and record 10 the oral reading of a fourth-grade pupil 
— elementary individual No. 7; record 11 the silent and record 
12 the oral reading of a fifth-grade pupil — elementary individual 
No. 8; record 13 the silent and record 14 the oral reading of a 
sixth-grade pupil — elementary individual No. 4; and record 15 
the silent and record 16 the oral reading, of a seventh-grade pupil 
— elementary individual No. 15. 

Plate III is intended to illustrate binocular behavior and 
adjustment in connection with reading, the records for both eyes 
being shown in each case. The first pair of records represents 
the rapid silent reading of an easy selection by adult individual 
No. 12; the second the normal silent reading of adult individ- 
ual No. 27; the third the silent reading of elementary individ- 
ual No. 2; the fourth the silent reading of elementary individual 
No. 20; the fifth the silent reading of high-school individual No. 8; 
and the sixth the oral reading of elementary individual No. 3. 

The several pairs of records of Plate IV serve to illustrate addi- 
tional features of binocular behavior and adjustment. The first 
pair represents a series of normal fixations on the part of an adult 



THE MOTOR BEHAVIOR OF THE EYE IN READING 87 

reader, the points fixated being located at the edges of the printed 
page; the second represents the silent reading of high-school 
individual No. 9, the point of interest being especially the series 
of fixations near the middle of the records; the third represents 
the silent reading of adult individual No. 16, the point of interest 
being within the series of fixations near the middle of the records; 
the fourth and fifth pair represent the oral reading of elementary 
individuals Nos. 4 and 20, respectively, the points of interest 
being in each case connected with the last return sweep. 

2. Head- and eye-movement in the horizontal plane. — A care- 
ful examination of the first record of Plate I shows that vibra- 
tions of the apparatus in the horizontal plane were practically 
non-existent. An examination of records 2 and 4, the records for 
head-movement alone, on the other hand, indicates very clearly 
that head-movement is a factor to be reckoned with. A comparison 
of these records with records 3 and 5, the ordinary eye-movement 
records, shows that most of the irregularities which stand for 
head-movement in the case of the former are also present in 
the case of the latter, indicating, of course, that ordinary eye- 
movement records tend to represent a complication of head- and 
eye-movement. Accordingly, it becomes our task to analyze 
the records and to distinguish between these two types of 
movement. 

An examination of records 2 and 4, the records for head- 
movement alone, reveals several types of disturbances. The most 
prominent is that indicated by the wavelike deviations which may 
be observed at points designated by a. At first sight these devia- 
tions might be regarded as indicative of vibrations of the apparatus; 
however, record 1, taken immediately before to test the apparatus 
in this respect, gives no indication whatever of such vibration. 
It is barely possible, on the other hand, that the subjects may 
have disturbed the apparatus sufficiently to set up the vibrations 
in question; this is not probable, however, since the apparatus 
rested on a heavy table which was seemingly well secured. More- 
over, a bodily movement of sufficient impetus to initiate such 
disturbances of the apparatus could scarcely take place without 
noticeable head-movement, but the records give no indication of 



88 STUDY IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF READING 

such head disturbance immediately preceding the wavelike devia- 
tions. Furthermore, the deviations are far from uniform in wave- 
length and amplitude. Not only do those of record 4 differ from 
those of record 2, but there are differences in evidence in the case 
of any one record. The facts in the case appear thus to point 
toward the more probable hypothesis that the deviations are 
indicative of slight oscillations of the head in the horizontal plane, 
the eyes being in such cases compelled to move with the head, as 
will be shown later. Such oscillations of the head are very easily 
set up even in cases where a seemingly firm headrest is used. 
Such disturbances would also show somewhat less regularity than 
vibrations of the apparatus. They would naturally, because of 
the irregularities caused by articulation, show less regularity in 
the case of oral than in the case of silent reading. A comparison 
of the two records indicates that such is actually the case. While 
this kind of disturbance is found at some point or other on the 
records of practically all readers, it tends to occur persistently on 
the records of only about 10 per cent of the subjects. In the last 
analysis, whatever the cause of the disturbance may be its real 
significance lies in the fact that it appears equally on the records 
for head-movement and for head- and eye-movement combined, 
and so might easily be mistaken for eye-movement. We shall 
designate this type of irregularity tentatively as "head-movement 
of the first type." 

A second kind of disturbance is indicated on the records by 
well-marked deviations toward the left; these occur particularly 
in connection with oral reading. Note the most striking instances 
on record 4 at points designated by b. A comparison of these 
points with approximately identical points of record 5 shows that 
these deviations are closely related to interfixation movements. 
Just what this relationship may be is not certain. At times these 
movements appear to occur a moment before, at times simul- 
taneously with, and at times a moment after, the interfixation 
movements of the eye. When the movements occur immediately 
before or immediately after the interfixation movements, the eyes, 
at least in part, are carried along with the head. We shall speak 
of such movement as "head-movement of the second type." 



PLATE II 




i 234 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 l6 



THE MOTOR BEHAVIOR OF THE EYE IN READING 89 

A third type of irregularity is indicated on the records by a 
gradual change in direction. It appears to imply a slow and 
probably quite unconscious shifting of the head. It is limited 
almost exclusively to oral reading and appears to be closely 
related to the more pronounced head-movement of the second 
type. The duration and form of this shifting movement vary 
materially; at times the shifting affects several successive pauses, 
and at other times it appears to be coextensive with individual 
pauses. The form of the movement is such as to give the records 
of the pauses over which it extends a curved effect, the curve 
extending in some instances to the left and in others to the right. 
Note record 4 of Plate I and records 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, and 16 
of Plate II at points marked c. The eyes appear to be carried 
along with the head except in cases where they have occasion to 
move independently, as during connecting movements or binocular 
adjustment. This type of disturbance will be spoken of as "head- 
movement of the third type." 

A fourth type of disturbance appears in the form of a general 
irregularity which causes the records to appear shaky and unsteady. 
When these irregularities are examined under an enlarging glass, 
they are found to consist of comparatively irregular deviations, 
differing from those involved in head-movement of the first type 
by the absence of regularity in wave-form and amplitude, and by 
the fact that they are less marked as far as size is concerned. They 
are particularly common in connection with oral reading, being 
in this case, in part at least, indicative of disturbances set up by 
articulation. In so far, however, as they are found in connection 
with both silent and oral reading, they must be, in part at least, 
also indicative of disturbances set up by such functional activities as 
respiration and pulsation. Observe, in connection with oral read- 
ing, record 4 of Plate I at points designated by d, and in connection 
with silent reading, particularly records 6-9 of Plate I at points 
indicated by d. As in most previous cases, the eye appears to be 
carried along with the head during such movement. These irregu- 
larities will be referred to as "head-movement of the fourth type." 

Having characterized the leading types of head-movement, 
we are prepared to consider eye-movement as such. Several 



90 STUDY IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF READING 

types are in evidence. The first and most striking type appears 
on the records in the form of a gradual change in the direction of 
the records of fixation pauses, the record of the right eye tending 
toward the left and that of the left eye toward the right. It 
appears to involve a slow and continuous shifting of the eye during 
fixation. It is most evident in connection with the initial fixation 
pauses of each line, but is by no means absent in the case of sub- 
sequent pauses, as will be pointed out later. It takes place quite 
independently of head-movement. A comparison of records 2 and 
3 of Plate I at points representing the initial fixation pauses brings 
this out quite clearly. It is somewhat more difficult to single out 
this type of eye-movement on the records for oral reading because 
of the presence of head-movement of the third type. This type 
of eye-movement, as will appear later, represents convergent adjust- 
ment in connection with fixation. It is designated by 1. 

A second type of eye-movement appears on the records in the 
form of a rather sharp deviation at the initial points of the records 
of certain fixation pauses, the deviations implying in this case a 
movement of both eyes in a direction opposite to that of the 
preceding return sweep or interfixation movement. Observe in 
this respect particularly records 1 and 2 of Plate III at points 
designated by 2. As will be pointed out later, this type of move- 
ment appears to be indicative of a natural tendency for both 
eyes to move in the same lateral direction before responding 
to the more complicated and difficult process of convergent 
adjustment. 

A third type of eye-movement appears on the records in the 
form of isolated deviations. There is rarely more than one of 
these in evidence in connection with any one fixation pause. The 
prevalence of this type of eye-movement varies greatly with 
individuals; in the case of some it is very common, especially in 
connection with silent reading; and in the case of others it is 
almost entirely absent. Records 6-9 of Plate I represent an unusual 
amount of such disturbance; note particularly the points desig- 
nated by 3. Records 10 and 11 of Plate I and records 1-4 and 
9 and 10 of Plate III are typical of the opposite extreme. There 
is no indication whatever that such movement is in any way 



TEE MOTOR BEHAVIOR OF TEE EYE IN READING 91 

purposive. It is in all probability due to a lack of balance on the 
part of the muscles of the eyes. 

It is not probable that eye-movement in connection with 
fixation is limited to the three types described above. There are 
indications, for instance, of an unsteadiness of the eye resembling 
closely head-movement of the fourth type, but since the eye is 
carried with the head in the case of the latter causing the disturb- 
ance to be recorded on the records for head- and eye-movement 
combined, it is very difficult to distinguish between the two. 
The extent of the present study at least does not warrant a final 
distinction. There must also be a certain amount of compensatory 
eye-movement in connection with certain types of head-movement, 
but it has not been possible with the present technique to point 
this out definitely. 

A rapid survey of the records of the several plates will serve 
to bring out further the nature and the prevalence of the different 
types of head- and of eye-movement. Records 6-13 of Plate I 
represent silent reading. The sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth 
show an exceptional amount of unsteadiness. Most of this is 
head-movement of the fourth type and eye-movement of the third 
type; note the most striking instances of the former at points 
designated by d and those of the latter at points designated by 3. 
Eye-movement of the first type is also present; observe in this 
respect the pauses indicated by 1. Records 10 and 11 represent 
unusual steadiness, the disturbances being practically limited to 
head-movement of the fourth type and eye-movement of the first 
type; observe the former at points indicated by d and the latter 
at pauses marked 1. Records 12 and 13 show an unusual amount 
of head-movement of the first type; note the deviations in the 
proximity of points designated by a. Eye-movement of the first 
and second types is also clearly in evidence at points marked 1 and 
2, respectively. 

Plate II represents, as previously indicated, the reading of 
children — -records 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, and 15 representing the 
silent and records 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, and 16 the oral. In the 
case of silent reading head-movement is practically confined to 
the fourth type; observe the most striking instances at points 



92 STUDY IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF READING 

designated by d. This type appears even more prominently on 
the records for oral reading, the deviations being more marked. 
At times it is difficult on both kinds of records to distinguish 
between this and eye-movement of the third type. In the case 
of the oral records head-movement of the third type is also strongly 
in evidence. Note the most marked instances at points designated 
by c. Eye-movement of the first type is much in evidence, partic- 
ularly in the case of the records for silent reading. Observe the 
most striking instances at the pauses indicated by i. The second 
and third types may also be observed at points marked 2 and 3, 
respectively. 

Although Plate III is intended chiefly to illustrate binocular 
motor behavior, the several pairs of records may serve to illustrate 
further the several types of head- and eye-movement. All but 
the last pair represent silent reading. The first pair presents 
several interesting features. Head-movement is almost entirely 
absent, only the fourth type being slightly in evidence. Eye- 
movement, on the other hand, is well represented, particularly 
the first and second types; note points designated by 1 and 2, 
respectively. The second pair represents the extreme as far as 
steadiness is concerned; head-movement is limited to some very 
slight instances of the fourth type, and only minimal degrees of 
eye-movement of the first type are in evidence. It is interesting 
to note, however, that this individual rarely succeeds in making 
a continuous return sweep, two movements separated by an 
interval of approximately 160 a being almost invariably required. 
The fourth pair, one record of which has been previously referred 
to, represents a rather marked amount of head-movement of the 
first and fourth types; note the points at a and d, respectively. 
Eye-movement of the first type is also in evidence. The fourth 
pair gives slight indications of head-movement of the first type 
and also of the fourth. Each of the three types of eye-movement 
is somewhat represented. Note particularly the striking instances 
of eye-movement of the first type at points designated by 1. The 
fifth pair represents considerable steadiness; note, however, the 
indications of head-movement of the fourth type, and also those 
of eye-movement of the first type. The fifth pair represents 



THE MOTOR BEHAVIOR OF THE EYE IN READING 93 

head-movement of the first, third, and fourth types and eye- 
movement of the first and third types. The alternate spreading 
and crowding of the dots are indicative of head- and eye-movement 
in the vertical plane, this being very common in connection with 
oral reading. 

3. Comparison of records for silent reading at maximal rate 
with records for silent reading at normal rate. — Records 6-13 of 
Plate I make possible a comparison of silent reading at maximal 
and at normal rates. Near the close of the present investigation 
a number of rapid readers were asked to read two easy passages, 
one at normal and the other at maximal rate. The results of 
four of these individuals are shown on Plate I, records 6, 8, 10, and 

12 representing reading at maximal rate and records 7, 9, 11, and 

13 reading at normal rate. On an average these subjects read 
approximately four lines at maximal speed for every three lines at 
normal speed. The difference between the average number of 
pauses per line is almost negligible for the two types of records, 
those for reading at normal rate averaging slightly higher. The 
chief difference lies in the duration of pauses, these being materially 
longer in the case of reading at normal rate. Compare the several 
sets of records in this respect. Beyond this the two types of 
records present no marked differences. It is interesting to note, 
however, that some individuals make a greater distinction between 
maximal and normal reading than others. Compare, for instance, 
records 6 and 7 with records 10 and 11. In general, we may con- 
clude, however, that a momentary silent reading at maximal 
rather than at normal rate involves a shortening of the duration 
of the pauses rather than a lessening of their number. But this 
leaves unsolved the problem as to what would happen if the subjects 
were to engage in practice extending over a considerable period 
of time, gradually forming habits of reading at maximal rate. It 
is quite possible that improvement brought about in this manner 
would involve a reduction of the number as well as the duration of 
pauses. 

4. Comparison of the records of children with those of adults. — 
As previously indicated, all the records of Plate II, records 5, 6, 
7, 8, 11, and 12 of Plate III, and records 12 and 13 of Plate I 



94 STUDY IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF READING 

represent the silent reading of children; records 9 and 10 of Plate 
III represent the reading of a third-year high-school student; the 
remaining records represent the reading of adults. In making 
comparisons it must be remembered that records 6, 8, and 10 
of Plate I and records 1 and 2 of Plate III represent adult silent 
reading of easy selections at maximal rate and so are not as strictly 
comparable with the normal reading records of the children as 
are the rest of the adult records. It will be recalled that there 
was practically no difference between the results for the children 
and the results for the adults as far as the average number of 
pauses per line and the average duration of pauses are concerned, 
the children showing a slightly smaller number of pauses and a 
little longer duration of time. There was, however, a much more 
marked difference in connection with irregularities, especially in the 
case of refutations and average deviations, these being much more 
in evidence in the case of children. A comparison of the records 
above referred to serves to emphasize this fact. The records 
of the children show very evidently less regularity in the number 
and duration of pauses and in the amount of time required 
for the reading of successive lines, refixations occurring also more 
frequently. Irregularities during fixation appear also at first 
sight to be much more common in the case of children than in the 
case of adults. A careful comparison of a large number of records 
shows, however, that these differences are more apparent than real. 
The fixation records of children represent on the whole remarkable 
steadiness and precision. Marked control is in evidence even as 
far down as the second grade. Observe particularly the records 
of the latter and also of the third grade, the pupils being seven 
and eight years old, respectively. These show beyond question 
a greater steadiness than many of the adult records, especially in 
the case of silent reading. Compare them in this respect with 
records 6-9 of Plate I. The same thing is essentially true of 
binocular behavior and adjustment, these being remarkably 
developed in the case of even the youngest readers. Compare 
the records of Plate III in this respect. All in all, then, the motor 
behavior of the eyes in reading differs in the case of children from 
that of adults, not so much in number and duration of pauses, 



PLATE III 




4 5 6 



8 <) lO II 12 



THE MOTOR BEHAVIOR OF THE EYE IN READING 95 

nor in steadiness and precision of fixation, but rather in frequency 
of refixation and in the regularities affecting the number and the 
duration of pauses, refixations and average deviations being 
more in evidence in the case of the elementary and even the 
high-school group than in the case of adults. All of this goes 
to show, of course, that children develop at an early age a high 
degree of motor control, but that their habits are as yet largely 
unformed. 

5. The return sweep and interfixation movements. — While the 
method of time measurement employed in the present investigation 
is much better suited to estimate the duration of fixation pauses 
than the speed of the connecting movements, it affords, neverthe- 
less, a very reliable index to the speed of the return sweep and the 
interfixation movements. On the records a dot and a space 
represent one-fiftieth of a second. On this basis it is possible to 
estimate with reasonable accuracy the duration of the movements 
in question. An examination of the records shows that the time 
required for the return sweep is subject to considerable individual 
variation, being in some cases as low as 3 seconds and in others 
as high as 0.05 second. A return sweep varying in duration from 
0.03 to 0.04 second is very common. Note in this respect partic- 
ularly records 8, 9, 10, and 11 of Plate I, records 13 and 14 of 
Plate II, records 1, 2, 9, 10, 11, and 12 of Plate III, and records 
1 and 2 of Plate IV. Durations ranging from 0.04 to 0.05 second 
occur less frequently. Note, however, records 3, 4, 5, and 6 of 
Plate II and records 7 and 8 of Plate III. Long durations are 
somewhat more characteristic of children than of adults. More- 
over, the time required for the return sweep is not absolutely 
constant in the case of any one individual, variation from line to 
line being by no means uncommon, though it is not as marked as 
might appear at first sight. In certain cases the return sweep 
is interrupted rather than continuous, the return sweep proper 
being preceded by a backward movement resembling a refixation. 
This is characteristic of only a few individuals, but where it does 
occur it tends to persist line after line, particularly in the case of 
silent reading. Observe in this respect records 1 and 2 of Plate II 
and records 3 and 4 of Plate III. 



96 STUDY IN TEE PSYCHOLOGY OF READING 

The duration of interfixation movements is also subject to 
considerable individual variation. The same thing is true of the 
durations in the case of any one individual, some interfixation 
movements being at least twice as long as others. On the whole, 
the duration of these movements varies from o.oi to 0.03 second, 
durations ranging between 0.02 and 0.025 second being most 
common. Records 6 and 7 of Plate I represent interfixation 
movements of maximal duration. Note especially the instances 
at x, y, and s. Records 10 and 11 of the same plate represent 
interfixation movements requiring minimal durations. Note the 
instances at x', y' ', and 2'. In part at least these differences in 
duration are due to differences in the extent of forward movement, 
the extent of some of these connecting movements being three 
and four times as great as that of others. Compare, for instance, 
the first and last interfixation movements of line 1 of records 10 
and 11, Plate III, and also interfixation movement one of line 5 of 
records 1 and 2, Plate III, with the rest of the interfixation move- 
ments of that line. In some instances, however, long durations 
cannot be accounted for on the basis of the extent of forward 
movement. In such cases the movements appear to be executed 
very slowly. These cases are comparatively rare. They are 
found occasionally in connection with almost any individual. 
In such cases the extent of forward movement is usually quite 
short, the long duration being simply indicative of a gradual shifting 
from one fixation point to another. In a few instances, however, 
these slow interfixation movements tend to recur rather persist- 
ently in connection with certain individuals. Note, for instance, 
record 7 of Plate I. It is interesting to note that the duration 
of the return sweep is also long in such cases. Both phenomena 
imply habits of slow movement on the part of such individuals. 

6. Binocular behavior and adjustment. — As previously indicated, 
the records of Plates III and IV serve chiefly to illustrate certain 
aspects of binocular behavior and adjustment. The records of 
Plate III are typical of binocular behavior as found in connection 
with regular reading; the first two pairs of Plate IV serve to 
illustrate binocular behavior in connection with a series of succes- 
sive fixations of end points, while the remaining records represent 



THE MOTOR BEHAVIOR OF THE EYE IN READING 97 

other aspects which are of interest in connection with binocular 
behavior and adjustment. 

A rapid survey of the records of Plate III shows at a glance 
that there is on the whole a remarkable correspondence in the 
behavior of the two eyes. A closer examination, however, brings 
out the fact that there are at times material differences. To 
begin with, the two eyes rarely cover the same distance during the 
return sweep and during interfixation movements. The leading 
eye (in space) invariably covers a greater distance than the eye 
which follows, no matter in which direction the movement may be. 
The nature of the adjustment during succeeding fixation pauses 
shows that the leading eye covers more and the eye which follows 
covers less than the normal distance. In other words, the leading 
eye gradually retraces its excess distance during the subsequent 
fixation pause, while the other makes up for its deficiency by con- 
tinuing very gradually in the same direction. As a result the 
parallel records of such pauses show a tendency to incline toward 
each other, the distance separating them being greatest at the 
beginning and least toward the end. This characteristic is natu- 
rally most in evidence in the case of the initial fixation pause of 
each line, this being preceded by the long return sweep during 
which the difference in the distances covered by the two eyes 
reaches its maximum. In the case of the other pauses the adjust- 
ment varies correspondingly with the extent of the connecting 
movements, being in many cases too slight to be evident. 

On the whole, the foregoing phenomena point strongly to the 
conclusion that rapid movements of the eyes, such as are involved 
in the return sweep and the interfixation movements, are accom- 
panied by a divergent adjustment, and that this is followed by 
convergent adjustment during subsequent fixation pauses. As 
far as the horizontal plane is concerned, the eyes move outward 
during divergence — the two eyes moving, of course, in opposite 
directions; during convergence the directions are reversed, the 
eyes moving in this case inward (1). Divergence accounts at 
once for the difference in the distances traversed by the two eyes 
in the case of the connecting movements. The leading eye gains 
because it moves in the same direction in which the divergent 



98 STUDY IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF READING 

adjustment is leading it; the eye which follows falls behind because 
it moves in a direction opposite to that in which the divergent 
adjustment is leading it. Convergence, on the other hand, accounts 
for the character of the subsequent adjustment. The fact that 
the eyes move inward in this case enables the leading eye to retrace 
its excess distance, and similarly it allows the eye which follows 
to make up for its deficiency. As a matter of fact, this adjustment, 
both divergent and convergent, is comparatively slight after the 
initial fixation pause, so slight that it is at times scarcely per- 
ceptible. There are, moreover, marked individual differences. 
There is no reason to believe, however, that these forms of adjust- 
ment are ever entirely absent. A critical examination of more 
than two hundred records shows no exceptions, at least as far as 
divergence is concerned. This, it must be remembered, is some- 
what more easily detected on the records than convergence, simply 
because its effects are confined to the comparatively short and 
undisturbed records of the connecting movements, while those 
of convergence appear on the records of fixation pauses, these 
being comparatively long and subject to a variety of other 
disturbances. 

It is quite evident by this time that convergent adjustment is 
responsible for eye-movement of the first type. In the case of 
oral reading this is frequently somewhat complicated with head- 
movement of the third type. Eye-movement of the second type 
also finds its explanation in this connection. It will be remembered 
that this involves at the beginning of a fixation a rapid lateral 
movement of both eyes in a direction opposite to that of the pre- 
ceding connective movement. This tendency toward sympathetic 
lateral movement is clearly opposed to convergent adjustment; 
in fact, it represents, as Dr. Judd points out, a more elemen- 
tary tendency and a simpler type of eye behavior than do the 
elaborate processes of divergence and convergence, and perception 
must involve processes which overcome these elementary types 
of movement and lead to successful convergent adjustment (2). 

A rapid survey of the several pairs of normal binocular reading 
records will bring out more clearly the leading characteristics of 
binocular behavior and adjustment. The first pair of records 



PLATE IV 




THE MOTOR BEHAVIOR OF THE EYE IN READING 99 

(Plate III) represents the rather rapid silent reading of adult 
individual No. 12. Note first of all the very obvious difference 
in the distances traversed by the two eyes, both in the case of the 
return sweep and in the case of the interfixation movements. 
Observe, further, the incline character of the records of the 
pauses, particularly those at points designated by 1. Note also 
at points indicated by 2 the tendency of the two eyes to move 
sympathetically in the same lateral direction at the beginning 
of certain fixations. The second pair of records represents the 
normal silent reading of adult individual No. 27. It represents 
an extremely precise type of binocular adjustment. Divergence 
and convergence are in evidence in minimal degrees. An interest- 
ing characteristic of the binocular behavior of this individual 
appears in the fact that the return sweep is not continuous, at 
least two movements being invariably required. The third pair, 
which represents the silent reading of elementary individual No. 2, 
shows a similar tendency, particularly in connection with the fourth 
and fifth return sweeps. Divergent and convergent adjustments 
are in evidence, particularly at points designated by 1. Note 
incidentally the surprisingly precise character of the binocular 
behavior of an individual only seven years of age. The fourth 
pair represents the silent reading of elementary individual No. 20. 
Convergent adjustment is strongly in evidence in this case, partic- 
ularly at the points indicated by 1. The binocular behavior 
shows again a great deal of regularity and precision, especially 
when it is remembered that this individual was only eight years 
old. The fifth pair represents the silent reading of high-school 
individual No. 8. Note again the difference in distances traversed 
by the two eyes and the subsequent convergent adjustments, 
particularly in connection with the initial pauses. It is interesting 
to note the rather vacillating and uncertain character of the 
adjustment in the case of the initial pauses, and to contrast this 
with the precise character of the adjustment in the case of sub- 
sequent pauses. The long preceding return sweep appears to 
interfere with muscular balance, so much so, in fact, that the 
subsequent adjustment is rendered rather long and difficult. The 
sixth pair represents the oral reading of elementary individual 



ioo STUDY IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF READING 

No. 3. Indications of divergent and convergent adjustment are 
in evidence, though the latter are somewhat interfered with because 
of the presence of head-movement. 

The first pair of records of Plate IV represents the successive 
fixations of two points located at the edges of a printed page. 
The records show accordingly a series of records of fixation pauses 
connected by return sweeps for both directions. Note the striking 
precision which characterizes the binocular behavior and adjust- 
ment. The differences in the distances traversed by the two eyes 
are evident only in a minimal degree, as are also the subsequent 
adjustments. There is in evidence throughout a slight tendency 
for both eyes to move at the beginning of a fixation pause in a 
direction opposite to that of the preceding connective movement. 
The reading records of this individual are not represented on the 
plates, but they show similar characteristics. The second pair 
of records represents a series of similar fixations in connection with 
silent reading, the reader fixating successively two marginal points 
when passing from one paragraph to another. It should be 
remembered in this connection that the difference in the width 
of the records of the several pairs is due to the fact that the dis- 
tances between the eyes and the films varied somewhat with the 
different cases. The second pair shows much less precision in 
binocular behavior than the first. Note incidentally the differences 
in the distances traversed by the two eyes as well as the marked 
subsequent convergent adjustment. The third pair represents 
similar fixations in connection with rapid silent reading. The 
points to be fixated were located marginally between the two 
paragraphs, as above, except that the reader was to re-read at the 
conclusion of the fixations the previous paragraph rather than the 
one which followed. Accordingly, the point of interest centers 
at the stage at which the eye left the fixation point at the lower 
right-hand side of the paragraph and returned to the beginning 
of the first line of the paragraph. This necessitated a diagonal 
upward movement toward the left. This upward return sweep 
is represented on the records in part by the lines x-y and x'-y' 
and in part by the lines a-b and a'-b'. The diagonal upward 
movement of the eyes, as represented by x-y and x'-y', was very 



THE MOTOR BEHAVIOR OF THE EYE IN READING 101 

clearly accompanied by strong divergence. Note the effect of 
the difference in the distances covered by the two eyes. Observe 
carefully, in addition, the character of the subsequent convergent 
adjustment at y-a and y'-a'. The incline character of the records 
of the fixation pauses is very much in evidence. At b-a and b'-a' 
the return sweep is finally completed. This instance lends strong 
support to our principle of explanation, illustrating, as it does, in 
a unique manner the nature of binocular behavior in connection 
with rapid eye-movements and in connection with subsequent 
fixation pauses. The facts, as far as they go, are in close agree- 
ment with those which Dr. Judd found in connection with his 
elaborate and detailed investigations of divergence and conver- 
gence (3). 

The fourth and fifth pairs of records (Plate IV) represent the 
oral reading of elementary individuals Nos. 4 and 20, respectively. 
Both represent, in addition to the usual binocular characteristics, 
certain interesting features due chiefly to complications of head- 
and eye-movement. In the case of the fourth pair the adjust- 
ments at a, b, and c might appear to imply at first sight a rather 
radically different type of behavior on the part of the two eyes 
in connection with certain fixations. Upon closer examination, 
however, these differences appear to be due to a slight twisting or 
turning of the head, the axis of rotation being nearer one eye than 
the other, in consequence of which the path of the latter is more 
extended and different in form from that of the former. Note 
the apparent difference in distances covered by the two eyes at 
a and b and at y-z and y'-z' ; note also the differences in the form 
of the paths, particularly in the case of the first and last instances. 
Eye-movement undoubtedly serves to complicate the situation, 
particularly at such places as x-y and x'-y' . This sweep was 
executed partly by the head and partly by the eyes; in addition, 
there are very definite indications of divergence in connection with 
the sweep, the latter necessitating in turn convergent adjustment. 
Somewhat similar characteristics are in evidence in the case of 
the fifth pair of records. Compare the records particularly at 
points between a and b. Note also the form of the return sweep 
at a. While the difference in the distances traversed by the two 



102 STUDY IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF READING 

eyes is due to divergence, the difference in form is due largely to 
a slight twisting of the head, such as was referred to above. This 
constitutes really a fifth type of head-movement. It occurs very 
rarely, however, and then almost exclusively in connection with 
children. 

B. MOVEMENT IN THE VERTICAL PLANE 

As previously indicated, the film-holder was modified in the 
course of the present investigation so as to make possible the 
measurement of head- and eye-movement in the vertical plane. 
The technique of the apparatus, however, did not permit the simul- 
taneous registration of the movements of both eyes in the two 
planes, the movements of one being recorded for the horizontal 
plane and the movements of the other for the vertical plane. If 
the behavior of the two eyes were absolutely uniform, the results 
thus obtained would, of course, represent the movements of either 
eye in both planes. Since the behavior of the two eyes varies 
more or less, the results can only approximate the movements 
of any one eye in the two planes. However, this need not materi- 
ally affect the validity of the results of our study of eye-movement 
in the vertical plane ; the difference in the behavior of the two eyes 
is in the last analysis trivial. 

Unfortunately no means could be devised whereby the precise 
location of the path of the fixation point could be located within 
the line. In other words, there was no way of determining whether 
the fixation point moved through the line near the base of the 
words, near the middle, or near the top. It is, of course, a well- 
known fact that the upper parts of words are more characteristic 
and consequently more crucial in perception than the lower parts. 
While this fact tends to support the hypothesis that the fixation 
point moves nearer the top than the bottom of the printed line, 
it does not make possible quantitative estimation. As a result, 
movement in the vertical plane must be discussed with reference 
to the eye rather than the line. 

i. Description of records and plates. — Plates V and VI show 
typical records from a rather large number of records. In the 
case of Plate V the records for the two planes parallel each other. 
Two individuals and both types of reading are represented. The 



THE MOTOR BEHAVIOR OF THE EYE IN READING 103 

first and the fifth records represent movement in the horizontal 
plane in the case of silent reading and the third and seventh in 
the case of oral reading; the second and sixth represent movement 
in the vertical plane in the case of silent reading and the fourth 
and eighth in the case of oral reading. Since the records of this 
plate represent head- and eye-movement combined, and are not 
paralleled by records for head-movement alone, the comparisons 
must be made on the basis of combined head- and eye-movement 
rather than on the basis of either head- or eye-movement. 

In the case of Plate VI the records for head-movement and 
for combined head- and eye-movement parallel each other, the 
former being records for movement in the vertical plane, the light 
being reflected from a polished bead fastened to a pair of spectacle 
rims worn by the reader, and the latter being the usual corneal 
reflection records for movement in the vertical plane. The first 
record is a record of light reflected from a polished bead fastened 
to the apparatus. It is intended to detect possible vibrations of 
the apparatus in the vertical plane. In the remaining records 
two individuals and both types of reading are represented. The 
second and sixth records are records of head-movement in silent 
reading, the former representing rather a maximal and the latter 
a minimal amount of head-movement for silent reading; the third 
and seventh records are records of head- and eye-movement com- 
bined in connection with silent reading, the former being rather 
typical of a minimal and the latter of a maximal amount of eye- 
movement in silent reading; the fourth and eighth records are 
records of head-movement for oral reading, the former being rather 
typical of a maximal and the latter of a minimal amount of such 
movement; the fifth and ninth records are records of head- and 
eye-movement combined in oral reading, both representing an 
average amount of eye-movement for oral reading. The records 
of this plate should be read from left to right. 

The reader is already familiar with the records for head- and 
eye-movement in the horizontal plane. Those for movement 
in the vertical plane may be readily understood, although they 
are somewhat more complicated. The pauses are in this case 
represented by short series of dots and spaces and the inter- 



104 STUDY IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF READING 

fixation movements by longer spaces between the series of dots and 
spaces which represent the pauses. The return sweep (from 
right to left) consists of one or two extended dots and of two or 
three spaces, the number in each case depending upon the speed 
of the movement; it extends toward the left from the end of the 
record of the last pause of the previous line to the beginning of the 
record of the first pause of the succeeding line. This means, of 
course, that the records for the last pause of the previous line 
and for the first pause of the succeeding line parallel each other, 
the record for the return sweep running between the two. These 
three records are naturally in close proximity, so much so, in fact, 
that they tend to blur when printed. On the films, however, 
they may be readily distinguished. The record for the reading 
of a given line consists accordingly: (a) of several of the series 
of dots and spaces, the number being equivalent to the number of 
pauses required for the reading of the line in question, the first 
and last excepted, since the former parallels the records for the 
return sweep and for the last pause of the previous line and 
the latter the records for the return sweep for the line in question 
and for the first pause of the succeeding line; (b) of the longer 
spaces between these series of dots and spaces representing the 
interfixation movements; and (c) of the complexes at the beginning 
and at the end of the line representing the records of the last pause 
of the previous line, of the return sweep, and of the first pause 
of the succeeding line. The records for the reading of several 
lines will naturally represent a series of repetitions of the foregoing. 
With this in mind the reader will have no difficulty in interpreting 
the records for head- and eye-movement in the vertical plane 
and in comparing them with those for the horizontal plane. How- 
ever, in order to facilitate interpretation and comparison, the 
several features of the records have been marked off and labeled. 
In the case of Plate V the Roman numerals I, II, etc., number 
the successive lines of the records for movement in the horizontal 
plane; Roman numerals I', II', etc., number the corresponding 
lines on the records for movements in the vertical plane. The 
capital letters A, B, etc., mark off the successive portions of the 
records for movement in the horizontal plane which represent 



THE MOTOR BEHAVIOR OF THE EYE IN READING 105 

the return sweep, the last pause of the preceding line, and the first 
of the succeeding line; capital letters A' ', B' , etc., designate the 
corresponding portions of the records for movement in the vertical 
plane. Arabic numerals 1, 2, etc., number the pauses for the 
successive lines of the records for movement in the horizontal 
plane; Arabic numerals 1', 2', etc., number the corresponding 
pauses for the successive lines of the records for movement in 
the vertical plane. 

In the case of Plate VI, Roman numerals I, II, etc., number the 
lines on the records for head- and eye-movement in the vertical 
plane; Roman numerals V, II', etc., mark off the corresponding 
areas on the records for head-movement alone. Capital letters 
A, B, etc., indicate the portions of the records containing the record 
of the return sweep in the case of the records for head- and eye- 
movement combined; capital letters A', B f , etc., point out the 
approximately corresponding portions on the records for head- 
movement alone. The small letters a, b, etc., indicate in the 
case of both records typical deviations which are clearly indi- 
cative of head-movement; the small letters a', b' ', etc., point 
out on the records for head- and eye-movement combined 
typical deviations which are clearly indicative of eye-movement 
alone. 

Since Plate V is chiefly intended to facilitate a comparison of 
the records for movement in the vertical plane with the correspond- 
ing records for movement in the horizontal plane, it may be desir- 
able to read the records from bottom to top. For all other purposes 
the records for movement in the vertical plane should be read 
horizontally from left to right. Assuming the records to be read 
thus, upward or downward movements of the head or the eye 
are indicated by upward or downward deviations. If there were 
no head- or eye-movement during the pauses, the records of the 
pauses would be straight; if there were no such movement during 
the interval in which the eye passes from one fixation point to 
another, the series of dots and spaces representing the several 
pauses of a given line would likewise follow a straight fine. That 
movement does take place in the vertical plane is very evident 
from the appearance of the records. To what extent this is 



106 STUDY IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF READING 

head-movement rather than eye-movement remains to be pointed 
out in connection with the analyses which follow. 

2. Comparison of records for the two planes. — As previously 
indicated, Plate V makes possible a comparison of the records 
for movement in the vertical plane with the corresponding records 
for movement in the horizontal plane. Records i and 2 represent 
the silent and records 3 and 4 the oral reading of adult individual 
No. 12; records 5 and 6 represent the silent and records 7 and 8 
the oral reading of adult individual No. 24. A general survey 
of the records, especially those for silent reading, shows that the 
grosser movements tend to affect both planes, i.e., deviations 
implying head- or eye-movement in the records of pauses in one 
plane are frequently accompanied by deviations in the correspond- 
ing records of the other plane. Note, for instance, in the case 
of records 1 and 2, line I, pauses 1-3; line II, pause 3; line III, 
pauses 1, 4, and 6; and line IV, pauses 1-5. Note, similarly, in 
the case of records 5 and 6, line I, pauses 1-4; line II, pause 4; 
and line III, pauses 2-5. The same tendency is in evidence in 
connection with oral reading, provided that the movement in the 
vertical plane is not too pronounced. In the case of records 3 
and 4 some correspondence may be observed, but in the case of 
records 7 and 8 the vertical deviations are too pronounced as 
compared with the horizontal. These grosser movements, as will 
be pointed out later, are largely of the head variety. 

A comparison of the records shows, further, that head- or eye- 
movement in the vertical plane, as indicated by deviations on the 
records for this plane, is also, in part at least, recorded on the 
records for movement in the horizontal plane, an upward movement 
being indicated by a crowding of the dots and a downward move- 
ment by a spreading of the dots. Note, for instance, Plate V, 
records 1 and 2, line I, pause 6, and records 7 and 8, line I, pauses 
3, 7, 8, and 9, and line II, pauses 1, 3, 5, 6, and 9. 

As previously indicated, the portion of the records for movement 
in the vertical plane which represents the last pause of the previous 
line, the first of the succeeding line, and the return sweep is fre- 
quently blurred on the records because of the close proximity of 
the records of the three components. This is particularly true 



PLATE V 




THE MOTOR BEHAVIOR OF THE EYE IN READING 107 

in the case of the records for silent reading, which represent a 
minimal amount of head-movement. It is therefore at times quite 
difficult to compare this part of the records for movement in the 
vertical plane with the corresponding part of the records for move- 
ment in the horizontal plane. An interesting exception is notice- 
able in the case of record 6, return sweep D' , at the end of line III. 
There was a decided upward movement here during the return 
sweep, and in consequence a marked downward movement during 
the subsequent fixation. Note the spreading of the dots in the 
upper portion of D, the corresponding horizontal record of the 
same pause. Oral records 3 and 4 afford even better instances for 
comparison. In the case of record 4, return sweep B' , the three 
components are very much in evidence. There was a downward 
movement during the last pause of line I and a marked downward 
movement during the latter part of the fixation pause which 
followed upon the return sweep. A careful examination of the 
corresponding portions of the records for movement in the hori- 
zontal plane shows very clearly the expected spreading of the dots. 
Note, further, return sweep C of the same record and return sweeps 
B' and C of record 8. 

A particularly interesting comparison of movement in the two 
planes is made possible in connection with records 1 and 2 just 
after line IV. At the close of pause 6 of this line the reader made 
an upward sweep with the eyes of approximately two inches, this 
being followed after a brief fixation period by a downward return 
sweep. The fact that there were during these upward and down- 
ward sweeps also slight movements toward the right heightens 
the effect on the record for movement in the horizontal plane, 
the upward sweep being represented by a line running downward 
and slightly to the right and the downward sweep by a line running 
upward and slightly to the right. 

3. Head- and eye-movement in the vertical plane. — -As stated 
above, the records for head-movement and those for head- and 
eye-movement combined parallel each other in the case of Plate 
VI. The first and the last are, however, exceptions. The former 
is a record of light reflected from a polished bead fastened to the 
apparatus, being intended to detect possible vibrations of the 



108 STUDY IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF READING 

apparatus in the vertical plane. The latter is a record of head- 
and eye-movement combined; it illustrates in a striking manner 
the effects of binocular adjustment in so far as these appear on 
the records for the vertical plane. An examination of record i 
shows that vibrations of the apparatus are practically non-existent. 
A comparison of the remaining records indicates, however, that 
head-movement is to be reckoned with in this plane even more 
than in the horizontal plane, particularly in the case of oral reading. 
Records 2 and 3 represent the silent and records 4 and 5 the oral 
reading of adult individual No. 6— the second representing rather 
a maximal amount of head-movement and the third rather a 
minimal amount of eye-movement in connection with silent 
reading, the fourth being, on the other hand, fairly typical of a 
maximal amount of head-movement and the fifth of a minimal 
amount of eye-movement in the case of oral reading. Records 6 
and 7 represent the silent and records 8 and 9 the oral reading of 
adult individual No. 6 A — the sixth being typical of a minimal 
amount of head-movement and the seventh of a maximal amount 
of eye-movement in connection with silent reading, while the 
eighth represents distinctly a minimal amount of head-movement 
and the ninth an average amount of eye-movement in the case 
of oral reading. 

Several types of head-movement are in evidence as in the case 
of the horizontal plane. The first and most obvious of these 
appears on the records in the form of rather marked irregular 
deviations. These are particularly in evidence in connection with 
oral reading. Note record 4 of Plate VI, also record 8 of Plate V. 
This form of head-movement appears to involve a rather continuous 
irregular oscillation of the head in the vertical plane, this being 
in all probability due largely to disturbances set up by articulation. 
It differs from head-movement of the first type for the horizontal 
plane in that it is much more irregular and in that it has a greater 
amplitude; it differs from the fourth type of the horizontal plane 
in being more continuous and more marked. Its form and size 
may be accounted for, in part at least, by the fact that the head 
moves less easily and less smoothly in the vertical than in the 
horizontal plane. The significant fact is that this type of head- 



THE MOTOR BEHAVIOR OF THE EYE IN READING 109 

movement appears in common with the foregoing types on the 
records both for head-movement and for head- and eye-movement 
combined, the chief exceptions occurring at the points where 
the eyes move rapidly, as in the case of the connective movements. 
Compare records 4 and 5 for this purpose at points designated 
by a, b, c, etc. 

A second type of head-movement appears on the records in 
the form of a rather gradual change in direction, implying a slow 
change in the position of the head. The degree of such shifting 
varies materially, being in some instances, especially in the case 
of silent reading, very slight, as in the case of record 2 of Plate VI; 
in other instances, particularly in connection with oral reading, 
it is quite marked, as in the case of record 8 of Plate VI. A com- 
parison of records 2 and 3 and of records 8 and 9 of Plate VI shows 
that such movements are generally recorded on the records for both 
head-movement and head- and eye-movement combined. There 
are, however, some exceptions, particularly in the case of silent 
reading. The correspondence in the case of records 2 and 3, for 
instance, is not absolute; in part this is of course due to the fre- 
quency of the connective movements. This type of movement 
resembles somewhat the head-movement of the third type for 
the horizontal plane. 

A third type of head-movement appears on the records in the 
form of a slight unsteadiness, implying a very slight disturbance 
of the head, and possibly at times of the film. It resembles head- 
movement of the fourth type for the horizontal plane in a general 
way, but differs from it in that enlargement does not show as 
definite wave-form, and in that the disturbance is less marked. 
At times such movement appears alone, as in the case of record 
6 of Plate VI; at other times it may occur in connection with 
other types, as in the case of records 2 and 4 of Plate VI. It 
appears on the records both for head-movement and for head- 
and eye-movement combined. 

An examination of the records for the purpose of determining 
the nature of eye-movement in the vertical plane reveals a variety 
of irregularities. Some of these are clearly indicative of diver- 
gent and convergent adjustment. It will be remembered that 



no STUDY IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF READING 

divergence involves in the case of the horizontal plane an outward 
movement of both eyes and convergence an inward movement. 
Careful investigation has shown that these two types of adjustment 
also involve movement in the vertical plane, the eyes moving 
upward as well as outward in the case of divergence and downward 
as well as inward in the case of convergence (4) . Since divergence 
is characteristic of the connective movements and convergence 
of fixation, the records for the return sweep and for the interfixation 
movements ought to show an upward trend and those for the 
fixation pauses ought to show a downward trend. An examination 
of a large number of records can leave no doubt as to the presence 
of these phenomena. Although it is ordinarily rather difficult to 
isolate the record for the return sweep, it is quite evident that it 
terminates frequently above the normal level of the records for 
the fixation pauses, and this in spite of the fact that the eyes 
actually pass downward in sweeping from the end of one line to 
the beginning of the next. Observe as very striking examples 
return sweep D of record 6 of Plate V, return sweep B of record 5 
of Plate VI, and return sweeps A , C, and F of record 10 of Plate VI. 
To a certain extent this same tendency is in evidence in connection 
with practically all return sweeps. Unfortunately these portions 
of the records are often blurred in printing so that they do not 
stand out as clearly on the plates as they do on the films. The 
records for the interfixation movements, on the other hand, stand 
out so definitely that their character may be closely observed. 
Note, accordingly, the persistent upward tendency of these minute 
portions of the records. Observe particularly in the case of records 
3^ 5, 7, 9> and 10 of Plate VI the instances at points designated by 
i', 2', 3', etc. The convergent adjustment in connection with 
subsequent fixation pauses is also clearly in evidence, especially in 
connection with fixation pauses which follow upon the return 
sweeps. Note the downward trend of the records of such pauses 
at points designated by 1, 2, 3, etc. In the case of the fixation 
pauses which follow upon interfixation movements the effect of 
convergent adjustment is not as evident, largely because the 
adjustment is in such cases extremely minute. It is, however, in 
all probability, rarely, if ever, entirely absent. We shall speak 



THE MOTOR BEHAVIOR OF THE EYE IN READING in 

of this convergent adjustment in the vertical plane, as indicated 
by a downward trend of the records of fixation pauses, as "eye- 
movement of the first type." 

A second type of eye-movement resembles eye-movement of 
the third type for the horizontal plane. It appears on the records 
in the form of rather isolated deviations, being accompanied in 
some cases by a slighter and more general disturbance. Record 
7 of Plate VI is particularly typical in this respect; note the 
deviations at points designated by i", 2", 3", etc.; observe also 
the more general irregularities at other points along the record. 
This type of eye-movement appears particularly in connection 
with silent reading; in the case of oral reading it is in all probability 
largely obscured by the effects of head-movement. As in the case 
of the horizontal plane, this type of irregularity is in all probability 
largely due to lack of balance on the part of the muscles of the eyes. 

It is not probable that the two types of eye-movement which 
have been described are all-inclusive. As in the case of the hori- 
zontal plane, there are certain indications of compensatory eye- 
movement; these are, however, so slight that it has not seemed 
wise to attempt their definite characterization with the present 
technique and extent of investigation. 

Certain characteristics of the records of Plate VI remain to be 
pointed out. Records 2 and 3 represent the silent reading of 
adult individual No. 6. Observe in the case of record 3 the down- 
ward sweep from a' to b f . The reader fixated at this stage a point 
approximately two inches below the first line. An examination 
of the corresponding section of record 2, the record for head- 
movement, shows that these downward and upward movements 
of the eyes were executed without any appreciable amount of 
head-movement. Note incidentally the marked convergent adjust- 
ment which follows upon these movements, as indicated by the 
downward trend of the records for the subsequent fixation pauses, 
particularly the one which follows the upward sweep from c' to d'. 
Similar adjustments are strongly in evidence during subsequent 
initial fixation pauses, particularly in the case of those designated 
by 2, 3, 4, and 5. Note also the prevalence of head-movement of 
the third type in the case of record 2, particularly from a to b> 



112 STUDY IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF READING 

Records 4 and 5 represent the oral reading of the same individual, 
the former showing a rather marked amount of head-movement, 
most of which appears also on record 5. These records show very 
clearly, as do numerous others, that the eyes are carried with the 
head in the case of practically all head-movement occurring in 
connection with reading. This, however, does not prevent the 
eye from engaging in certain elaborate simultaneous adjustments, 
such as convergence; nor does it exclude the presence of slight 
compensatory adjustments on the part of the eyes; the connective 
movements appear to take place quite independently of head- 
movement, in part, no doubt, because of their extremely short 
duration. Note the correspondence in the records for head- 
movement and for head- and eye-movement combined at points 
designated by a, b, c, etc. Note also the exceptions at points where 
the records for the connective movements appear. 

Records 6 and 7 represent the silent reading of adult individual 
No. 6A. An examination of these records shows that head-move- 
ment may in the case of some individuals be almost completely 
absent, while eye-movement may be quite marked. Record 6 
gives practically no evidence of head-movement; record 7, on the 
other hand, gives indications of very marked eye-movement. 
Records 8 and 9 represent the oral reading of the same individual. 
The records are unique in that they represent a minimal amount 
of head-movement in connection with oral reading. Note, however, 
the correspondence between head- and eye-movement, partic- 
ularly at points indicated by a, b, c, etc. The marked deviation 
at the beginning of record 9 represents, as in the case of record 3, 
purposive movement, the reader fixating a point approximately 
two inches below the first line. In general, the adjustment 
resembles that discussed in connection with record 3. There is 
in evidence, however, a rather unusual amount of independent eye- 
movement. Compare the records particularly at points between 
b' and c', d' and e', and e' and b. The downward movement at e' 
is not easily accounted for. It is possible that the reader was 
about to repeat the original downward sweep, but that he corrected 
himself before reaching the fixation point. It is possible, too, that 
he may have become aware indirectly of a considerable portion 



. THE MOTOR BEHAVIOR OF THE EYE IN READING 113 

of the first part of the line, and so may not have been in need 
of accurate fixation while these words were being pronounced. 
Another interesting feature appears near the end of this record. 
Instead of the usual return sweep of the eye, there was at this stage 
a movement of the head downward and toward the left. Just 
why the movement should have been so pronounced, or why it 
should have occurred at all, is difficult to tell. To all appearances 
it did not interfere with the reading, for the subject continued 
uninterruptedly and with but little subsequent adjustment. It 
should be noticed incidentally that there was in connection with 
this shift of the head a certain amount of independent eye- 
movement; note particularly the deviation at 3". It is quite evi- 
dent from this and other instances that there may be rather marked 
eye- and head-movement without serious visual disturbance. It 
is not probable, however, that the image is carried far beyond 
the fovea centralis in connection with such eye- and head- 
movement. 

C. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS REGARDING THE MOTOR 
BEHAVIOR OF THE EYE 

An adequate characterization of eye-movement is, as we have 
seen, quite impossible unless the effects of head-movement can 
be eliminated. Even the most carefully devised headrest does 
not appear to exclude the latter entirely. Accordingly, it has 
been our task to analyze the complexes and to distinguish between 
head- and eye-movement. Several types of head-movement have 
been discovered for each plane. In the case of the horizontal 
plane four distinct types have been observed. The first involves 
a series of rather uniform oscillations of the head, or possibly 
vibrations of the apparatus; the second represents a tendency on 
the part of the head to move rapidly in a direction opposite to 
that in which the eyes move during interfixation movements, the 
movement occurring at about the same time as the interfixation 
movements, and particularly in connection with oral reading; the 
third type involves a more gradual change in the position of the 
head, occurring also especially in connection with oral reading; 
the fourth type implies a general unsteadiness of the head, this 



114 STUDY IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF READING 

being also particularly characteristic of oral reading In the case 
of the vertical plane three somewhat similar types have been 
pointed out. The first involves a rather continuous irregular 
oscillation of the head; the second implies a gradual change in 
the position of the head ; the third represents a very slight unsteadi- 
ness of the head; each of these three types is most marked in 
connection with oral reading. 

The several different types of head-movement for the two 
planes, with the possible and at least partial exception of the 
second type for the horizontal plane, appear on the records for 
head- and eye-movement combined, showing that the eyes are 
for the most part held in position and carried along with the head 
during head-movement occurring in connection with reading. 
This, however, does not exclude the possibility of a slight simulta- 
neous compensatory movement of the eyes, nor does it of course 
prevent independent eye-movement at times when the head is 
practically at rest. 

Several different types of eye-movement have also been dis- 
tinguished for each plane. In the case of the horizontal plane 
we have, of course, first of all the connecting movements, namely, 
interfixation movements, including refixations, and the return 
sweep, the duration of the former ranging from o.oi to 0.03 second 
and that of the latter from o . 03 to o . 05 second. The most striking 
characteristic of these movements appears in the fact that the two 
eyes do not cover equal distances in executing them, the leading 
eye (in space) passing invariably over a greater extent than the eye 
which follows. Such movement implies divergent adjustment. 

In connection with the fixation pauses three distinct types of 
eye-movement were pointed out for the horizontal plane. The 
first involves a gradual convergent movement of the eyes, this 
being most strongly in evidence in the case of the initial fixation 
pause of each line; the second type represents a rapid movement 
of both eyes at the beginning of certain fixation pauses in a direc- 
tion opposite to that of the preceding connective movement; the 
third type involves isolated irregular excursions of the eyes in 
either direction, rarely more than one occurring in connection 
with any one fixation, such movement being due in all probability 



THE MOTOR BEHAVIOR OF THE EYE IN READING 115 

to lack of muscular balance. There are also indications of com- 
pensatory eye-movement, but it has not been possible to char- 
acterize this definitely. 

Somewhat similar types of eye-movement are in evidence in 
connection with the vertical plane. There is, to begin with, a 
gradual upward movement of the eyes in connection with the 
interfixation movements and the return sweep, this being indicative 
of divergent adjustment. Two types have been pointed out as 
especially characteristic of fixation pauses. The first represents 
a downward movement of the eyes during fixation, this being 
indicative of convergent adjustment; the second type resembles 
eye-movement of the third type for the horizontal plane, being 
indicative of isolated irregular excursions of the eyes and also 
possibly of a slighter and somewhat more general disturbance, the 
irregularities in either case being due to lack of muscular balance. 
As in the case of the horizontal plane, there are slight indications 
of compensatory eye-movement, the definite characterization of 
which has not been attempted. 

Assuming that the last types of eye-movement, the third in the 
case of the horizontal plane and the second in the case of the 
vertical plane, are due largely to lack of muscular balance, we have 
endeavored to account for the remaining types on the basis of a 
common principle of explanation. Such movements are obviously 
closely related to divergent and convergent binocular adjustment. 
In fact, they represent for the most part various phases of such 
adjustment. The connecting movements of the eyes are clearly 
accompanied by divergence, the degree of such adjustment varying 
rather directly with the speed and extent of the movement in 
question. Divergence, it will be remembered, involves an upward 
and an outward movement of the eyes. This being the case, we 
have at once an explanation of the difference in the distances 
covered by the two eyes in connection with the connecting move- 
ments as well as for the upward trend of such movements. If no 
such adjustment occurred in connection with such movements, the 
two eyes would cover equal distances. Divergence introduces a 
disturbing factor by virtue of the fact that it involves a change 
in the relative position of the two eyes. In view of the fact that 



n6 STUDY IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF READING 

both eyes move outward (and upward) in connection with such 
adjustment, the leading eye (in space) passes during connective 
movements beyond the point it would have reached had there 
been no divergent adjustment; the eye which follows, on the 
other hand, fails to reach the point it would have reached had 
there been no divergence because it moves in a direction opposite 
to that of the connecting movements in question. As a result the 
leading eye actually passes over a greater extent than the eye 
which follows in connection with such movements. But divergence 
involves an upward as well as an outward movement of the eyes. 
This fact accounts, of course, for the upward trend which is in 
evidence in connection with the connection movements in the 
case of the horizontal plane. This upward trend is, as a matter 
of fact, also in evidence on the records for the horizontal plane; 
not as definitely, however, since it is somewhat complicated with 
other factors, such as the movement of the films. 

In connection with fixation, convergent adjustment is strongly 
in evidence. Convergence as opposed to divergence involves an in- 
ward movement of the eyes. This fact accounts for eye-movement 
of the first type in the case of both the horizontal and the ver- 
tical plane. Reading at close range, as in the case of the printed 
page, necessitates, of course, near accommodation. Since the con- 
necting movements involve divergence, convergent adjustment 
must necessarily be effected during fixation or clear vision would 
not be possible. The convergent adjustment in question involves 
accordingly, on the one hand, an inward movement of the eyes 
which has been designated as eye-movement of the first type for 
the horizontal plane, and, on the other hand, a downward movement 
of the eyes which has been characterized as eye-movement of the 
first type for the vertical plane. Eye-movement of the second 
type for the horizontal plane represents a more elementary form 
of eye-movement than binocular adjustment, namely, a tendency 
for both eyes to move sympathetically in the same lateral direction. 
As Dr. Judd points out in his most thoroughgoing study of con- 
vergence and divergence (5), such movements represent an early 
and crude stage of ocular behavior — a stage in which "recognition 
of position in depth is undeveloped." The infant represents such 



THE MOTOR BEHAVIOR OF THE EYE IN READING 117 

a stage for a time. In consequence he experiences presently a 
vague consciousness of confusion in the presence of objects situated 
at varying depths. This increasing confusion tends to excite 
new forms of motor adjustment until convergence is accidentally 
hit upon. However, even then the tendencies toward the more 
elementary forms of movement do not necessarily disappear; they 
are rather controlled by the superior motives of perception which 
demand the higher forms of binocular motor co-ordination. This 
is brought out in an interesting manner by the fact that stimula- 
tions of the occipital visual area result only in sympathetic lateral 
movements of the eyes, while an excitation of the higher association 
centers of the cerebrum leads to convergent movements of the 
eyes. Every visual percept is thus in its inception essentially a 
confused mass of experience, clearness appearing only in proportion 
as the more elementary forms of sympathetic ocular behavior are 
overcome by the higher forms of binocular adjustment. 

The reading pause represents essentially such a process, the 
recognition of words and meanings appearing gradually as the 
motor adjustment progresses. It must be remembered, of course, 
that the perceptual process is rarely limited to specific pauses, 
prefixational vision making significant contributions; so much so, 
in fact, that the reading pause may in many cases represent a 
comparatively late stage in the total process. But even then it 
represents clearly a progressive form of motor adjustment paralleled 
by increasing clearness in recognition. Early and partial recog- 
nition simply tends to facilitate the process. 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES 

1. Judd, Charles H. "Photographic Records of Convergence and Diver- 
gence," Yale Psychological Studies, N.S., I, No. 2, especially pp. 374 ft. 

2. Ibid., especially pp. 411-12. 

3. Ibid , especially pp. 374 ff. 

4. Ibid. 

5. Ibid., p. 412. 



CHAPTER VI 
GENERAL SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION 1 

This investigation was undertaken primarily for the purpose 
of making a careful analysis of the reading process, both silent and 
oral, as represented by a large group of individuals varying widely 
in age and accomplishment. The problem was approached chiefly 
by way of a critical study of eye-movements, the latter involving 
in the case of reading a succession of fixation pauses and connective 
movements. Since the perceptual process is essentially limited 
to the fixation pause, the latter has been the chief object of this 
investigation, being studied intensively from the standpoint of 
the average number per line (90 mm.), the average duration, the 
location within the fine, and the accompanying motor behavior 
of the eyes. The connective movements have also been critically 
studied in view of their intimate relationship with the fixation pause. 

The average number of pauses was found to vary from 4 . 1 to 
10 . 8 per line for silent reading and from 6.1 to 1 1 . 5 for oral 
reading. In terms of the average number of words perceived per 
pause the figures vary in the case of silent reading from 2.15 to 
0.93 and in the case of the oral from 1.62 to 0.86. These figures 
are in close agreement with the results of other studies. 

The average duration of pauses varies from 214 to 470 a for 
silent reading and from 230 to 520 a for oral reading. These 
durations (silent reading) are somewhat higher than those found 
by previous investigators, partly because a larger and more varied 
group has been examined in this case and partly, if not largely, 
because the reading was in this connection of the careful rather 
than the rapid type. 

A study of the location of fixation pauses has shown that there 
is a slight tendency toward fixating the apperceptive unit centrally 
with reference to the width of the unit of course, no method having 

1 Consult also the summaries at the end of chapters iv and v. 

118 



GENERAL SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION 119 

yet been devised which makes possible the precise location of the 
path of the fixation point with reference to the height of the printed 
word or line. This tendency toward central location is facilitated, 
on the one hand, by the fact that we are in the habit of regarding 
most objects in the visual field as units and by contributions 
received through peripheral vision and context; it is interfered 
with, on the other hand, by such factors as defective motor control, 
tendencies toward short-lived motor habits, and objective pecu- 
liarities demanding analysis. And, finally, there can be no doubt 
that the demands of perception are frequently met quite as well 
by end fixations as by central fixation. While the words within 
which the pauses fall do not appear to belong to one class rather 
than to another, it is quite evident that short words which combine 
readily with others to form apperceptive units escape fixation most 
frequently. 

The total perception time per line is the product of the average 
number and the average duration of pauses. It represents the 
reading time with the exception of the brief interval consumed by 
the connective movements. It constitutes, therefore, a rather 
reliable index to the rate of reading. In the case of the present 
study the average perception time per line varies from 1,140 to 
3,684.8 a for silent reading and from 1,702 to 4,454 cr for oral. In 
terms of the number of words read per second the figures range 
from 8.68 to 2.71 for silent reading and from 5.88 to 2.24 for 
oral. The most rapid silent reader read a little more than three 
times as fast as the slowest and the most rapid oral reader a little 
more than twice as fast as the slowest. A temporary change 
in the rate of reading appears to affect the duration rather than 
the number of pauses, the former being decreased as the rate is 
increased. It is probable, however, that a permanent change in 
the rate of reading, especially one effected by judicious practice, 
would also involve changes in the number of pauses. The fact 
that there is a higher degree of correlation between the average 
perception time per line and the average number of pauses than 
between the average perception time per line and the average 
duration of pauses points in this direction. There is ample evidence 
that a large percentage of readers, particularly those who are not 



120 STUDY IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF READING 

good visualizers, is compelled to resort to " scanning" in order to 
attain final efficiency in the speed of silent reading. This fact, 
although almost entirely ignored thus far, is bound to be of material 
significance in determining the reorganization of practices and 
methods of teaching reading, particularly if it can be shown that 
scanning is not opposed to good quality in comprehension. 

A comparison of the several groups representing different stages 
of individual development has brought out few significant 
differences. The number of pauses is uniform, and the duration 
of the pauses nearly so. The only possible difference occurs in 
the case of the children who represent slightly longer duration times 
than the adults, in all probability because the motor adjustments 
involved in fixation have not been as fully perfected as in the case 
of the adults. No marked difference is in evidence in connection 
with the location of the pauses. The average fixation or reading 
time is also quite uniform. This fact is borne out by the results 
of other studies involving careful reading. The most marked 
differences between children and adults appear in connection 
with irregularities. Refixations and average deviations particu- 
larly are much more marked in the case of children than in 
the case of adults, showing no doubt that the motor habits of 
children have not been as thoroughly established as those of 
adults. 

All in all, the results of the tests with children point toward the 
existence of a critical transition stage — a stage which appears to 
mark the passage from a slow and cumbersome to a rapid adult 
type of reading. The age at which an individual emerges from 
this stage varies materially, coming, in some instances at least, as 
early as the second grade, and in others materially later. In the 
case of the present study the second-grade pupils had passed this 
stage for the silent but not for the oral reading; the third grade 
had passed it in neither case as yet. After this stage is once passed 
and the mechanics of reading is mastered, the reading rate tends 
to remain rather constant. This is particularly true in cases where 
speed is somewhat subordinated to comprehension and where the 
reading materials are carefully graded. Such facts point, of 
course, to the conclusion that efficiency in the speed of reading 



GENERAL SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION 121 

may be attained at a comparatively early age. The significance 
of this cannot be overestimated in an age when educative in- 
formation comes so largely through channels involving extensive 
reading. 

Individual variation is strongly in evidence in connection with 
the results of the present investigation. In fact, it is the most 
outstanding characteristic, not only in the case of the total results 
in connection with speed and comprehension, but also in the case 
of most of the minor factors. This is in close keeping with the 
results of most other investigations. The prevalence and the 
marked character of such variation are bound to figure prominently 
in determining new standards and practices in the teaching of 
reading. 

The differences between silent and oral reading, although per- 
haps not as marked as might be expected, are clearly in evidence. 
The subjects of the present investigation read 57 per cent more 
material silently than orally. There is in evidence, further, in 
connection with silent reading, a very definite tendency toward 
positive correlation between rate and comprehension, rapid readers 
representing a higher quality of comprehension than the slow. No 
such correlation is in evidence in the case of the oral reading. In 
fact, there are some indications that an increase in rate may be 
inconsistent with good quality of comprehension. The differences 
between the two types of reading would undoubtedly have been 
more marked had the subjects been trained to distinguish between 
the two. As a matter of fact, reading has until recently been 
taught so poorly that it is extremely hazardous to speak of stand- 
ards for either type of reading, as well as of standard differences 
between the two types. Training in silent reading has been almost 
unthought of, and whatever may have been accomplished in the 
case of oral reading during the earlier grades has not infrequently 
been undone because of indifferent practices in connection with 
the later grades. 

Before attempting a critical characterization of the motor 
behavior of the eyes in connection with reading it was necessary 
to determine the nature and the prevalence of head-movement 
in so far as this is represented on the reading records. It was 



122 STUDY IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF READING 

found to be rather prevalent in both planes, being, of course, most 
marked in the case of oral reading. With few exceptions the eyes 
are carried along with the head during such movement. As a 
result head-movement is very easily mistaken for eye-movement. 
Head-movement for both planes falls readily into a few classes. 
The first represents a simple oscillation of the head, this being 
more marked and more irregular in the case of the vertical than 
in the case of the horizontal plane ; the second represents a tendency 
of the head to move (horizontal plane) in a direction opposite to 
that in which the eyes move during interfixation movements; 
the third represents a slow shifting of the head (both planes) 
during fixation; the fourth involves a general unsteadiness of the 
head (both planes). 

The most important types of eye-movement (both planes) are 
closely related to the binocular adjustment which accompanies 
the connective movements and fixation, the connective movements 
being accompanied by divergence and fixation by convergence. 
Divergence involves an upward and outward movement of the eyes 
and convergence a downward and inward movement. The former 
accounts for the unequal distances traversed by the two eyes in 
the case of the connective movements as well as for the upward 
trend of such movements; the latter accounts for the inward and 
upward movement of the eyes during fixation, the inward move- 
ments being in evidence on the records for movement in the hori- 
zontal plane and the upward movements on the records for 
movement in the vertical plane. Another type of eye-movement 
(horizontal plane) is essentially opposed to divergent and con- 
vergent adjustment. It represents a tendency toward a more 
elementary type of adjustment — an adjustment involving a 
sympathetic movement of both eyes in the same lateral direc- 
tion at the beginning of a fixation. As has been pointed 
out, only the superior perceptual motives are able to overcome 
such tendencies and to lead to successful convergent adjustment. 
A final type of eye-movement involves certain irregularities 
in connection with fixation, these being in all probability largely 
due to lack of muscular balance and to possible functional 
disturbances. 



GENERAL SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION 123 

Finally, the facts in the case point unmistakably toward some 
degree of recognition during the earliest stages of the ordinary 
fixation pause. The nature of convergent adjustment itself 
implies a progressive and consciously directed process of recognition. 
There is, in other words, a consciousness of confusion, or of lack 
of clearness, which continues to incite motor adjustment until the 
cleared-up percept appears, this being in turn accompanied and 
followed by elaborate associational processes— processes involving 
assimilation and organization. 



INDEX 



Abell, Adelaide M., 19. 

Adjustment: binocular, 96; divergent 

and convergent, 109 {., 115 f. 
Ahrens, A., 5. 
Apparatus, Yale, 8. 
Behavior, binocular, 96. 
Baxt, 10, n. 
Becker, 17. 

Camera, 26; kinetoscopic, 8. 

Cameron, 8. 

Cattell, J. M., 16. 

Clark University, 5, 20. 

Cleveland schools, 71, 74, 77, 82. 

Cline, 10 f. 

Columbia University, 7, 18. 

Comprehension, 73 f. 

Convergence, 97 f. 

Correlation, 57, 60, 74. 

Courten, 8. 

Courtis, S. A., 21, 70. 

Dearborn, W. F., 7, 9, 10, 13, 18, 20, 30, 

48, 59, 62, 64, 73. 
Delabarre, E. B., 5. 
Deviation, average, 73. 
Divergence, 97 f. 
Dodge, R., 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 16, 27, 48. 



Gillet, H. O., 1. 

Goldscheider, A., and Mueller, R. F., 16. 

Gray, W. S., 71, 74- 

Groups, comparison of, 66, 81, 120. 

Halle, University of, 5. 
Harvard laboratory, 5. 
Head-movement: horizontal plane, 87 f.; 

types, 89, 113 f., 122; vertical plane, 

108 f. 

Headrest, 24. 

Helmholtz, 15 f. 

Holmes, H. W., 1. 

Huey, E. B., 1, 5, 9, 10, 20, 59, 61. 

Individuals, comparison of, 81. 
Interfixation movements, duration of, 95. 

Javal, Emile, 5, 9, 10. 

Johnson, F. W., 1. 

Judd, Charles H., 1, 8, 9, 14, 15, 116. 

Lamansky, 4, 9, 10. 
Lamare, 5. 
Landolt, 5. 
Leipzig, 17, 18. 
Light, source of, 24. 
Lough, 5. 

McAllister, C. N., 8, 14. 



Erdmann, B., and Dodge, R., 5, 10, n, Messmer . °-> *7,**. 

16. Method: after-image, 4; mirror, 4; 
Exner, 15. photographic, 27. 

Experimentation, tachistoscopic, 55. Motor > electric > 2 ?- 

Eye-movement: apparatus for recording, Mueller, R. F., 16. 

6: compensatory, 91. in: experimental x T ,-., , , , 

investigation off 4; m horizontal plane, Nonnan, Okla., schools, 59, 7°. 

90; in vertical plane, no f.; types of, 0berholtzer; K E> 20> 5Q> ^ ga> 

Eyes, motor behavior of, 121 f. PariS) University of, 5. 

„.. , , , Pause, nature of, 78, 79. 

Film-holder, 26. t> , .. , £ £ 

_,. . . , , Pauses: average duration of, 57, 67, 76, 

Fixation point, path of eye s, 9. yg> Il8; location of, 62, 80, 118 f.; 

Freeman, F. N., 1, 7, 18. number of, 54 f., 66, 75, 79, 118. 

125 



126 



STUDY IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF READING 



Quantz, J. O., 19, 59. 

Reaction-time, visual, 58 f. 

Reader: most rapid oral, 119; most 

rapid silent, 1 19. 
Reading: advantages of silent, 77 £.; 

careful, 21; differences between silent 

and oral, 121; normal, 21. 
Records: comparison of, for adults and 

children, 93; comparison of, for silent 

and oral reading, 93; comparison of, 

for two planes, 106. 
Refutations, 73, 78. 
Reflecting mirrors, 24. 
Return-sweep, duration of, 95. 
Rostock, University of, 5. 

Scanning, 120. 
Starch, D., 20, 59, 69. 
Steele, W. M., 8. 
Sycamore 111., schools, 20, 70. 



Thorndike, E. L., 36. 
Time-marker, 24. 
Transition stage, critical, 1 20. 
Tulsa, Okla., schools, 20. 

University of Chicago Elementary School, 
1, 70. 

University of Chicago, 7. 

Valentius, 15. 

Variation, individual, 77, 121. 

Volkmann, 4, 9, 10. 

Waldo, K. D., 20, 70. 
Wellesley College, 19. 
Wesleyan University, 6. 
Wisconsin, University of, 7, 9. 

Yale : apparatus, 8; Psychological Studies, 
22; University, 8. 

Zeitler, J., 17. 






